Abstract book - Österreichische Gesellschaft für Entomofaunistik

Transcription

6 - 11 June 2014
Igls, Innsbruck, Austria
Abstract book
th
8 International
Wolbachia Conference
6 - 11 June 2014
Abstract book
Igls, Innsbruck, Austria
Imprint
Publisher: © WOLBACHIA 2014 Organising Committee
The authors are responsible for the content of the presentation abstracts.
Editorial work & layout: Wolfgang Arthofer, Birgit C. Schlick-Steiner & Florian M. Steiner
Molecular Ecology Group, Institute of Ecology
University of Innsbruck
Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
WOLBACHIA 2014 logo: © Wolfgang Arthofer, with contributions by Fred Böhringer,
Ron Shimek & Barbara Thaler-Knoflach
Print: Studia, Innsbruck; www.studia.at
Date of publication: June 2014
Suggested citation:
Simões P. et al. (2014) Quantifying the Wolbachia turnover. In: Arthofer W., Schlick-Steiner
B.C., Steiner F.M. (eds.): Abstract Book of the 8th International Wolbachia Conference.
Published by WOLBACHIA 2014 Organising Committee, Innsbruck, Austria.
Contents
Organising Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Scientific Committee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Sponsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Program
4
...................................................
Abstracts of oral presentations
...................................
9
Abstracts of poster presentations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
73
Author index
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
List of participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
2
8th International Wolbachia Conference 6 - 11 June 2014 Igls, Innsbruck, Austria
Organising Committee
In alphabetical order:
Wolfgang Arthofer (core team), Patrizia Arthofer-Peer, Kostas Bourtzis (core team),
Katherina Damisch, Alexandra Grosbusch, Sarina Hammerle, Philipp Kirschner, Bernd Linke,
Caroline Pichler, Heike Ritthammer, Sarah Scheld, Birgit C. Schlick-Steiner (core team), Julia
Seeber, Barton Slatko, Florian M. Steiner (core team), Iris S. Steiner, Julia S. Steiner, Herbert
C. Wagner
Scientific Committee
Wolfgang Arthofer, University of Innsbruck, Austria; Seth Bordenstein, Vanderbilt University,
USA; Didier Bouchon, Université de Poitiers, France; Kostas Bourtzis, International Atomic
Energy Agency, Austria; Jeremy Brownlie, Griffith University, Australia; Sylvain Charlat,
Université Lyon, France; Stephen L. Dobson, University of Kentucky, USA; Olivier Duron,
Université Montpellier II, France; Horacio Frydman, Boston University, USA; Pierre Grève,
Université de Poitiers, France; Peter Hammerstein, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany;
Abdelaziz Heddi, INSA de Lyon, France; Julie Hotopp, University of Maryland, USA; Martha
Hunter, The University of Arizona, USA; John Jaenike, University of Rochester, USA; Lisa
Klasson, Uppsala Universitet, Sweden; Wolfgang J. Miller, Medizinische Universität Wien,
Austria; Jason Rasgon, The Pennsylvania State University, USA; Markus Riegler, University of
Western Sydney, Australia; Barton Slatko, New England Biolabs, USA; William Sullivan,
University of California Santa Cruz, USA; Einat Zchori-Fein, Newe Ya'ar Research Center,
Israel
Sponsors
Austrian Airlines, Vienna, Austria; Entomologie Meier, Munich, Germany; Eurofins MWG
Operon, Ebersberg, Germany; Gesellschaft für Medizin- und Labortechnik, Innsbruck,
Austria; Innsbruck Alpine Zoo, Innsbruck, Austria; Lactan, Graz, Austria; New England
Biolabs, Ipswich, USA; Österreichische Gesellschaft für Entomofaunistik, Vienna, Austria;
Qiagen, Hilden, Germany; Swarovski, Wattens, Austria; The Company of Biologists,
Cambridge, UK; Thermo Fisher Scientific, Vienna, Austria; Tiroler Landesregierung,
Innsbruck, Austria; Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; VWR International, Vienna,
Austria
3
Program
Friday, 6 June 2014
1600 - 2000
Registration
1900 - 2200
Welcome reception
Saturday, 7 June 2014
0814 - 0830
Wakeup call: Steve Reich (* 1936) Music for a large ensemble
0830 - 0900
Official welcome and opening remarks
Symposium EVOLUTION
Chair: Didier Bouchon
0900
0920
0940
1000
-
0920
0940
1000
1020
1020 - 1050
Charlat S.: Quantifying the Wolbachia turnover
Lindsey A.: Experimental evolution of Wolbachia in novel hosts
Gerth M.: Phylogenomic analyses of Wolbachia supergroup relationships
Martínez-Rodríguez P.: Understanding codivergence of hosts and their
associated bacteria: Wolbachia infection in the Chorthippus parallelus
hybrid zone
Coffee break
Symposium ECOLOGY, DIVERSITY, DYNAMICS
Chair: Sylvain Charlat
1150 - 1210
1210 - 1230
Truitt A.: Investigations into a case of Wolbachia and an endangered
butterfly population
Ilinsky Y.: Maternal inheritance of long-established laboratory
Drosophila melanogaster stocks
Jeong G.: Endosymbionts-induced microbiome disruption in
Vollenhovia emeryi (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae)
Bouvaine S.: Diversity of Wolbachia in African Cassava whiteflies
Hurst G.: Ecological and evolutionary impacts of male-killing bacteria
1230 - 1400
Lunch
1050 - 1110
1110 - 1130
1130 - 1150
Symposium DISEASE AND PEST CONTROL
Chair: Einat Zchori-Fein
1400 - 1420
1420 - 1440
1440 - 1500
1500 - 1520
1520 - 1550
4
Dobson S.: Application of Wolbachia as a pesticide against
Aedes albopictus (Asian Tiger Mosquito) in the USA
Calvitti M.: Cytoplasmic incompatibility patterns between naturally and
wPip infected Aedes albopictus: implications for safety and long term
effectiveness of a suppression strategy
Xi Z.: Interplay of novel Wolbachia strains with Aedes and Anopheles
mosquitoes
McGraw E.: Wolbachia infection lengthens extrinsic incubation period in
dengue infected mosquitoes
Coffee break
Chair: Elisabeth McGraw
1550 - 1610
1610 - 1630
1630 - 1650
1650 - 1710
Telschow A.: Wolbachia destabilizes mosquito population dynamics
Rasgon J.: Wolbachia can enhance pathogen infection in mosquito vectors
Martinez J.: Frequency of antiviral protection and correlation with
cytoplasmic incompatibility: insights from a comparative analysis of
Wolbachia strains
Bourtzis K.: Medfly - gut microbiota - Wolbachia tripartite symbiosis:
assessing effects on fitness, mating behavior and pest control
1710 - 1900
Poster session
1900 - 2030
Dinner
2030 - 2200
Social hour
Sunday, 8 June 2014
0801 - 0845
Wakeup call: Adriano Banchieri (1576-1634) Barca di Venezia per Padova
0845 - 0900
Announcements
Symposium CELL BIOLOGY
Chair: Laura Serbus
0900 - 0920
Frydman H.: An integrated approach to dissect the mechanisms of
Wolbachia tropism
1000 - 1020
Kamath A.: A novel Wolbachia tropism: targeting of polar cells in the
Drosophila follicular epithelium
Toomey M.: Mechanisms of Wolbachia tropism to the stem cell niche
in the Drosophila testis
Malone C.: Assessing Wolbachia dynamics in the Drosophila ovary
1020 - 1050
Coffee break
0920 - 0940
0940 - 1000
Symposium CELL BIOLOGY
Chair: Horacio Frydman
1050 - 1110
1110 - 1130
1130 - 1150
Miller W.: Wolbachia in the mind – a mutualistic puppet master
orchestrating proper host sexual behaviour
Serbus L.: The impact of dietary nutrition on intracellular Wolbachia titer
Newton I.: Necessity is the mother of invention: actin manipulations by
the reproductive parasite Wolbachia pipientis
Chair: Seth Bordenstein
1150 - 1210
1210 - 1230
1230 - 1400
Hunter M.: Fitness benefits of a facultative symbiont are influenced by
host nuclear genotype
Zchori-Fein E.: Beyond single-bacterium symbiosis: factors correlated with
variation in symbiotic communities of insects
Lunch
5
Symposium EVOLUTION
Chair: Seth Bordenstein
1400 - 1420
1420 - 1440
1440 - 1500
1500 - 1520
1520 - 1550
Gottlieb Y.: Coxiella endosymbionts in the Rhipicephalus sanguineus
brown tick species group
Teixera L.: Phylogenomics and evolution of symbiont-mediated
protection to pathogens
Husnik F.: Host-symbiont interactions at the symbiotic interfaces of
obligately blood-sucking insects
Zug R.: Wolbachia-arthropod mutualisms: some comments on pathogen
interference, dependence, tolerance, and resistance
Coffee break
Symposium EVOLUTION
Chair: Roman Zug
1550 - 1610
1610 - 1630
1630 - 1650
Bordenstein S.: Speciation by symbiosis: what have we learned so far?
Hammerstein P.: Dobzhansky-Muller and Wolbachia-induced
incompatibilities in a diploid genetic system
Riegler M.: Turn up the heat and you'll get more sons! Bacterially
facilitated temperature dependent sex ratio in an Australian
species of thrips
1650 - 1710
Group photo
1710 - 1900
Poster session & informal discussions
1900 - 2030
Dinner
2030 - 2200
Social hour
Monday, 9 June 2014
0802 - 0845
Wakeup call: Motosoma, son of Zeami (1394-1432) Shakkyo
0845 - 0900
Announcements
Chair: Jason Rasgon
0900 - 0920
0920 - 0940
0940 - 1000
1000 - 1020
1020 - 1050
6
Schneider D.: Wolbachia outbreak in tsetse fly hybrids: symbiont titer
regulation, bi-directional CI, and overcoming of male hybrid sterility
Kaur R.: What can we infer from symbionts titre in their respective
Drosophila host tissues?
Makepeace B.: A worm in bacterial clothing: proteomic analysis supports
the hypothesis that Wolbachia-driven recruitment of neutrophil
antimicrobial proteins protects Onchocerca ochengi against eosinophils
Ford L.: A•WOL macrofilaricidal drug discovery and development –
optimisation of anti-Wolbachia efficacy
Coffee break
Symposium PHENOTYPES
Chair: Markus Riegler
1050 - 1110
1110 - 1130
1130 - 1150
1150 - 1210
1210 - 1230
Bouchon D.: Functional analysis of the host immune response in the
symbiotic association between the pill-bug Armadillidium vulgare and
the feminising Wolbachia
Bertaux J.: A bug may hide another: cryptic Wolbachia in unfeminized
lineages of Armadillidium vulgare
Kern P.: A new molecular sexing technique for butterflies – does
Wolbachia really feminise genetic males in Eurema?
Wang YF.: Wolbachia-induced paternal defect in Drosophila is likely by
interaction with the juvenile hormone pathway
Kaltenpoth M.: Symbiotic bacteria affect cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in
tsetse flies (Glossina m. morsitans)
1230 - 1400
Lunch
1400 - 1900
Excursions
1900 - 2030
Dinner
2030 - 2200
Social hour
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
0829 - 0845
Wakeup call: Lou Reed (1943-2013) Metal machine music – the amine β ring pt. 1
0845 - 0900
Announcements
Chair: Molly Hunter
0900 - 0920
1000 - 1020
White J.: Double trouble: multiple endosymbiont infection and multiple
manipulations in a linyphiid spider
Simhadri R.: Modulation of microbiome of Drosophila melanogaster
by Wolbachia
Valiente Moro C.: Are Wolbachia and microbiota linked to the genetic
structure of invasive and endemic populations of Aedes albopictus?
Weill M.: Evolution of the interaction Culex pipiens /Wolbachia
1020 - 1050
Coffee break
0920 - 0940
0940 - 1000
Symposium GENETICS & GENOMICS
Chair: Lisa Klasson
1050 - 1110
1110 - 1130
1130 - 1150
1150 - 1210
1210 - 1230
1230 - 1400
Fukatsu T.: Functional genomics of beetle-microbe symbioses
Comandatore F.: Phylogenomics and analysis of shared genes suggest
a single origin of the main lineages of Wolbachia in nematodes
Chrostek E.: Link between genotype and phenotype in Wolbachia
Cordaux R.: Impact of Wolbachia endosymbionts on the evolution of
sex determination in the isopod Armadillidium vulgare
Badawi M.: Toward the identification of feminizing genes of the
bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia
Lunch
7
Symposium GENETICS & GENOMICS
Chair: Takema Fukatsu
1400 - 1420
1420 - 1440
1440 - 1500
1500 - 1520
1550 - 1610
Nichols R.: Wolbachia’s Burgess Shale: ancient and modern integration
in the genome of Podisma pedestris (Orthoptera)
Hong X.: Identification of Wolbachia-responsive microRNAs in the
two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae
Wang GH. Sex-specific transcription of large proportion of genes in the
only cryptic WO prophage genome in a fig wasp species
Harumoto T.: Spiroplasma infection induces male-specific DNA damage
response in Drosophila melanogaster
Greve P.: Wolbachia genome sequencing: phylogenomics, symbiosisrelated pan-genome and eukaryote-like proteins involved in
host-symbiont interactions
1610 - 1640
Student awards
1640 - 1730
Presentations and discussion about the venue for the Wolbachia Conference 2016
1730 - 1900
Poster session
1900 - 2300
Gala dinner
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Breakfast at the hotels
Departure
8
Abstracts of oral presentations
7 June 2014
Morning symposia
9
Quantifying the Wolbachia turnover
Patricia Simões
Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Lab, University of Lyon 1, France
Marc Bailly-Bechet
Gergely Szöllõsi
Gladys Mialdea
Marie Cariou
Marie-France Sagot
Sylvain Charlat
Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Lab, University of Lyon 1, France; sylvain.charlat@univ-lyon1.fr
Given its widespread occurrence and often radical phenotypic effects, there is little doubt
that Wolbachia represents a substantial evolutionary force in arthropods. But the nature and
strength of its effects are conditioned by two parameters for which we currently have no
estimates: the duration of the typical Wolbachia stay in a given host lineage, and the rate at
which uninfected lineages acquire a new infection. Assuming the current global incidence of
about one third represents a stable equilibrium between transfer and acquisition, one can
approximate that infections are lost twice faster than they are acquired. Noting that even
closely related host species only rarely share similar, that is, potentially ancestral infections,
we can further guess that Wolbachia rarely stays more than a few million years in a given
host lineage. In an attempt to provide a better-founded estimate of these important
parameters, we are currently applying co-phylogenetic methods to estimate the most likely
rates of Wolbachia acquisition and losses, considering the observed incongruence between
Wolbachia and arthropod trees. We will present these estimates and discuss their
implications regarding the potential evolutionary consequences of Wolbachia infections.
10
Experimental evolution of Wolbachia in novel hosts
Amelia R. I. Lindsey
Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside, USA; alind005@ucr.edu
Richard Stouthamer
Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside, USA
It has been difficult to undertake detailed studies on new Wolbachia infections, because they
rarely persist. This is likely due to a lack of co-evolution between host and symbiont. Instead
of trying to infect a previously uninfected host with Wolbachia, our approach is to manipulate
the nuclear genetic background of a host (Trichogramma parasitoid wasps) long co-evolved
with Wolbachia, and then observe how the symbiont adapts to its "new" host background. In
Trichogramma, unfertilized eggs develop into males, and fertilized eggs develop as female.
However, Wolbachia induces parthenogenesis, so that unfertilized eggs also develop as
female. To challenge Wolbachia, recombinant backgrounds were created by exploiting the
fact that Wolbachia-infected Trichogramma will, in rare cases, use sperm from males of
uninfected populations to fertilize their eggs. Each recombinant Wolbachia-infected daughter
can be used to start a unique homozygous colony. This leaves no diversity in the host for
selection to act upon. In contrast, Wolbachia, with its high replication rate, is free to adapt to
the newly created recombinant hosts. We created 10 recombinant lines of Trichogramma
using this method. At generation three, the Wolbachia performance of each line relative to
the original infected population, was determined by measuring symbiont titer and host sex
ratio. In recombinant lines, we observed lower levels of parthenogenesis and the production
of intersex offspring. After 26 generations, we saw improved Wolbachia performance,
marked by higher proportions of females, and lower proportions of intersex. We conclude
that the paternal genome, not originally associated with Wolbachia, inhibits the Wolbachia
phenotype. Over a short period of time, Wolbachia will adapt to this new nuclear
background, so as to more effectively induce parthenogenesis. This system will be used to
identify key physiological and genomic changes occurring during adaptation of Wolbachia to
a novel host.
11
Phylogenomic analyses of Wolbachia supergroup relationships
Michael Gerth
Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Germany; michael.gerth@uni-leipzig.de
Marie-Theres Gansauge
Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
Anne Weigert
Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Germany
Christoph Bleidorn
Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Germany
The ubiquitous bacterial intracellular endosymbiont Wolbachia is known from many
arthropods but is also found in filarial nematodes. Considerable differences in Wolbachia's
biology have led to the recognition of various supergroups. Nematodes have evolved
mutualistic relationships with Wolbachia (supergroups C and D) over evolutionary timescales
whereas arthropod Wolbachia (supergroups A and B) are generally opportunistic, switch
hosts frequently and may generate reproductive modifications in their hosts. Further distinct
lineages exist, supergroup F being the only strain that was detected in both arthropods and
nematodes. Although many Wolbachia – host interactions have been studied extensively, the
intergroup relationships are only poorly understood. Therefore, Wolbachia's evolutionary
history, in particular the number and direction of major host and lifestyle transitions, remains
elusive. As yet, attempts to reconstruct Wolbachia's phylogeny were impeded by insufficient
taxon or gene sampling and by long branch artifacts originating from distant outgroups.
Here, we attempt to overcome these problems by incorporating whole genome data from so
far unsampled supergroups into a large scaled phylogenomic analysis of Wolbachia strains.
Multiple phylogenetic approaches yielded highly congruent results, placing supergroup F as
sistergroup to supergroup C and supergroups E and H at the basis of the Wolbachia tree.
This suggests that Wolbachia has evolved from a specialized ancestor and that major host
switches have occurred at least twice. Various genes are shared by all arthropod Wolbachia
supergroups, implying that the reduced genomes of supergroups C and D have evolved
independently. These results will serve as framework for future investigations on Wolbachia
evolution.
12
Understanding codivergence of hosts and their associated
bacteria: Wolbachia infection in the Chorthippus parallelus
hybrid zone
Paloma Martínez-Rodríguez
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain; paloma.martinez@uam.es
Francisca Arroyo-Yebras
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
José L. Bella
Several studies indicate that codivergence of Wolbachia strains with their hosts is less
common than horizontal transmission from other taxa. However, codivergence processes are
of great value in understanding essential aspects of Wolbachia biology, including host
adaptation, immune system suppression and coevolution.
In this study, we describe the case of the hybrid zone of Chorthippus parallelus, a
grasshopper extensively studied for evolutionary purposes. Phylogenetic and
phylogeographic studies based on previously established host phylogenies and taking a
bacterial MLST approach show that the two subspecies of the grasshopper and a number of
Wolbachia strains codiverged during the last glaciation period. In addition, extrapolation of
the divergence time between bacterial strains leads us to propose that Wolbachia infected C.
parallelus during the divergence of the two subspecies that formed the Pyrenean hybrid
zone.
This, combined with the cytoplasmic incompatibility induced by this bacterium in natural
populations of C. parallelus, suggests that the codivergence between bacterium and host
partially explains the current status of the hybrid zone and makes it a good model for
studying coevolutionary processes.
13
Investigations into a case of Wolbachia and an endangered
butterfly population
Amy M. Truitt
Portland State University, USA; amtruitt@pdx.edu
Can population augmentation between populations such as captive rearing and release
effectively conserve imperiled populations of insect pollinators, or are these methods too
risky for some populations? Augmentation is accomplished by supplementing small unstable
populations with individuals of the same species from the same population or from a larger,
more stable population. The latter type of augmentation may bring populations together that
have historically occurred allopatrically. While augmentation programs are very responsible
about not using visibly infected individuals to supplement recipient populations, movement
between populations has the potential to spread pathogens. Unknown or unidentified
symbiotic bacteria can be introduced when the source population is infected but the recipient
population is uninfected or differently infected prior to supplementation. Here we examine
the temporal sequence of infection and potential consequences of infection to a butterfly
undergoing population supplementation between populations that are infected with
symbiotic bacteria, Wolbachia, that can decrease population viability.
Despite management actions including habitat restoration, habitat enhancement, and captive
rearing and release, some of these populations remain severely susceptible to extirpation.
This compelled us to investigate whether CI-inducing Wolbachia served as a potential
additional variable contributing to the attrition of Speyeria zerene hippolyta populations. This
study investigates 1) whether the donor populations had different strains of Wolbachia from
the recipient ones suggesting that the captive rearing and release program accidently
introduced new strains; 2) whether there are differences in reproductive success between
infected and uninfected females; and 3) the potential ramifications that introduction of novel
Wolbachia infections has on populations of pollinator species of conservation concern.
14
Maternal inheritance of long-established laboratory Drosophila
melanogaster stocks
Yuri Ilinsky
Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk State University, Russia; paulee@bionet.nsc.ru
Roman Bykov
Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Novosibirsk State University, Russia
Mary Yudina
Nataly Weisman
Ludmilla Zakharenko
Olesya Ignatenko
Nataly Gruntenko
Elena Karpova
Ilya Zakharov
Wolbachia is widespread in field populations of Drosophila melanogaster, however, there is
little detailed information on Wolbachia infection among long-established laboratory D.
melanogaster stocks. There have been studied four hundreds of mutant and wild type lines
mainly from the collection of the Laboratory of Populations Genetics, Institute of Cytology
and Genetics, Novosibirsk, Russia. The stocks are characterized by M-, S- mitotypes, and
infection status: a genotype of Wolbachia or no infection. The diversity of maternal
inheritance can be expressed in cytotypes: M-MEL, M-w–, S-CS, and S-w–.
In scrutinizing the stocks' records genealogy and our results, we observed some cases of
bacteria loss in maternal lineages. However, in most cases the cytotypes proved to be
inherited stable, with no Wolbachia or mitochondria parental transmissions.
In analyzing one-name wide-used stocks from different Stock Centers and Labs by cytotype,
mtDNA sequences and mobile element patterns we have revealed facts of great genetic
differences that indicate different origin of certain lines.
15
Endosymbionts-induced microbiome disruption in Vollenhovia
emeryi (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae)
Gilsang Jeong
Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea; ecodever@gmail.com
Soyeon Park
Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea
Pureum Noh
Jae Chun Choe
The Vollenhovia emeryi ant can be categorized by its wing morphology, i.e. long-winged and
short-winged. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that short-winged colonies are derived from
long-winged colonies in V. emeryi suggesting that the short-winged is somehow cured of
Wolbachia and the host genetic background of the morph may have evolved resistance to
Wolbachia infection.
This raises a question whether the potentially resistant host genetic background and
Wolbachia infection affect the bacterial symbiont community diversity in the ant species. For
answering the question, the high throughput sequencing method was employed to examine
the bacterial community diversity of the long- and the short-winged colonies. The specific
aims of this study are (1) to investigate the influence of Wolbachia infection and the host
genetic background to diversity of bacterial symbionts of the two morphs of the ant, (2) to
compare bacterial diversity at the caste level.
We find that there are about 180 bacterial symbionts in the short-winged morph. On the
other hand, the long-winged morph harbors only about 20 bacterial symbionts. The bacterial
community diversity may be influenced by the existence of endosymbionts including
Wolbachia but not much, if any, by the host genetic background. The bacterial community
comparison among castes within the morph shows that the queen caste has rather dissimilar
bacterial community most probably due to food resources. Furthermore, a bacterial strain
diversity among castes indicates that there may be labor division even between queens.
However, masking by dominant species is a known issue in this method. In this presentation,
future research plan to tackle it will also be discussed.
16
Diversity of Wolbachia in African Cassava whiteflies
Saptarshi Ghosh
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK
Sophie Bouvaine
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK; bs33@gre.ac.uk
Maruthi Gowda
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK
Bemisia tabaci, the insect vector of major plant virus diseases across the world, hosts many
secondary endosymbionts such as Wolbachia, Rickettsia, Arsenophonus, Hamiltonella,
Cardinium and Fritschea which play essential roles in their biology and behaviour. This study
was aimed at understanding the prevalence and diversity of endosymbionts associated with
B. tabaci populations from east and West Africa and the possible role of Wolbachia on the
biology of its host. Prevalence of secondary endosymbionts in laboratory and field
populations of cassava whiteflies from Subsaharan Africa (SSA) collected from 2012 to 2014
and from Cassava mosaic virus disease (CMD) epidemic and non-epidemic areas in Uganda
in 1997 were screened by PCR. SSA2 biotype of whiteflies which are associated with CMD
epidemic in east Africa collected from epidemic areas in 1997 harboured 100% Wolbachia
infection. Diversity of Wolbachia was determined by multiple locus sequence typing (MLST)
which formed two distinct clades in phylogeny of concatenated nucleotide sequences.
Wolbachia haplotype from SSA1-subgroup2 biotype whiteflies were closer to Wolbachia from
butterfly species whereas haplotypes from SSA2 and SSA1-subgroup3 whiteflies were
clusering together. Quantification of Wolbachia from whiteflies by qPCR showed significant
variable rates of multiplication of Wolbachia in different strains of whiteflies. Whiteflies from
SSA2 and SSA1-subgroup2 had high quantities of Wolbachia, whereas SSA1-subgroup3 and
subgroup1 had intermediate and lower quantities respectively. The temporal transition of
whitefly population in CMD pandemic areas of east Africa from SSA2 to SSA1-SG1 implicates
a possible role of Wolbachia in the biology of whiteflies which affects their population
dynamics over time.
17
Ecological and evolutionary impacts of male-killing bacteria
Jon Ryder
Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, UK
Emily Hornett
Daria Pastok
Louise Reynolds
Sylvain Charlat
Greg Hurst
Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, UK; g.hurst@liv.ac.uk
The effect symbionts have on host individuals are well known, at least at a phenotypic level.
In contrast, our understanding of symbiont impact on host populations is less well
established, with a contrast between the extent of theoretical predictions and the degree to
which these have been tested in natural populations. In this talk, I will outline a case study
in ladybirds relating the impact of male-killers on the dynamics of a ladybird disease, and
one in butterflies where the evolutionary impact of male-killing is being resolved. I will argue
impacts of symbionts on pathogens require us to understand both demographic and
protective effects, and that rare events, such as extreme sex ratio bias associated with malekilling, may drive unusual (and interesting) evolutionary changes.
18
7 June 2014
Afternoon symposia
19
Application of Wolbachia as a pesticide against Aedes albopictus
(Asian Tiger Mosquito) in the USA
Stephen L. Dobson
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA; sdobson@uky.edu
James W. Mains
MosquitoMate, Inc., Lexington, USA
Corey L. Brelsfoard
MosquitoMate, Inc., Lexington, USA
Robert I. Rose
Biotechnology Regulatory Consultant, Frederick, USA
The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) is an invasive species, biting nuisance and
vector of medically important pathogens, including dengue and chikungunya). Despite
intensive use of conventional pesticides, its range continues to expand in the USA and
globally. A proposed autocidal approach for its control is based on Wolbachia, an
endosymbiotic bacteria that is common in many insect species. Similar to sterile insect
technique, the Wolbachia approach is based on the release of Wolbachia infected males,
which cause a form of conditional sterility, known as Cytoplasmic Incompatibility (CI) in the
targeted populations. In July 2013, Experimental Use Permit (No. 89668-EUP-1) was
awarded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct field trial performance
tests of a Wolbachia biopesticide approach against the Asian tiger mosquito in the
continental US. This presentation will summarize regulatory work with the EPA and early
experimental work examining male performance, longevity and dispersal in infested
neighborhoods of Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Plans for future work in Kentucky and additional
states will be summarized.
20
Cytoplasmic incompatibility patterns between naturally and
wPip infected Aedes albopictus: implications for safety and long
term effectiveness of a suppression strategy
Maurizio Calvitti
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, Italy;
maurizio.calvitti@enea.it
Riccardo Moretti
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, Italy
Francesca Marini
Tankeu Nzufo Francine
Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Cameroon
Angiola Desiderio
Aedes albopictus is known to be superinfected with two strains of Wolbachia (wAlbA and
wAlbB). In previous works we described the generation of a transinfected Ae. albopictus line,
named "ARwP", by replacing the natural Wolbachia double-infection with a single
heterologous bacterial strain from Culex pipiens. Reported infection data and CI features
appeared consistent with a promising use of ARwP line as a tool for Ae. albopictus
suppression strategies. We also demonstrated that in crosses between wild type males and
ARwP females only wAlbA causes full CI, while wAlbB and wPip display an asymmetrical CI
pattern.
Data from literature indicate that Wolbachia density in natural populations varies within a
wide range. In particular wAlbA strain, besides being variable among individuals, tends to
dramatically decrease with male age. In this work, we confirmed these general findings on
mosquitoes collected in Northern and Central Italy. In addition, we evaluated the influence of
male wAlbA and wAlbB loads on CI penetrance in crosses with ARwP transinfected females.
To this aim we combined a quantitative PCR approach with egg hatching data from age
controlled crossing experiments. We clearly found that the wAlbA "mod+" function towards
ARwP females is expressed in a density-dependent manner. In fact, young males with very
low wAlbA load showed a weakened CI, while older males with higher wAlbA density were
associated to strong CI. Differently, wAlbB (a weaker CI inducer towards wPip females)
showed neither an evident age-dependent density variation in males nor a significant
density-dependent impact on CI in crosses with ARwP females.
The results of this work are an unprecedented contribution for evaluating how strong and
stable is the bidirectional CI pattern between wild superinfected and ARwP mosquitoes.
Obtained data are discussed in the perspective of developing a bio-ecologically safe and
long-term effective area-wide suppression strategy against Ae. albopictus.
21
Interplay of novel Wolbachia strains with Aedes and Anopheles
mosquitoes
Xiaoling Pan
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA
Peng Lu
Guowu Bian
Deepak Joshi
Xiao Liang
Zhiyong Xi
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA;
xizy@msu.edu
Diseases transmitted by blood-feeding arthropod vectors, such as mosquito-borne malaria
and dengue fever, cause 1.5 million human deaths every year. The insufficiency of currently
available strategies, including vaccines, drugs and pesticides, has led to an increase in
vector-borne diseases, making it urgent to develop novel control methods. Due to its ability
to induce both cytoplasmic incompatibility and pathogen interference, Wolbachia is now
widely recognized for its potential to modify mosquito populations such that they become
refractory to the human pathogens they transmit. Toward this goal, we have introduced
different Wolbachia strains into the major disease vectors, including two dengue vectors
Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus and one primary malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. This
provides us the opportunity to compare the interactions of either the same Wolbachia with
different hosts, or the same host with different Wolbachia strains, in terms of pathogen
interference, CI and fitness cost. We found wAlbB induced resistance to both dengue and
malaria, and conferred certain benefits on both Ae. aegypti and An. stephensi. But wAlbB
appeared to cause more fitness cost in female fecundity in An. stephensi than in Ae. aegypti.
Two Ae. albopictus lines with different tripe infection were generated, and a difference in CI,
antiviral effect and fitness is currently investigated. In all the transinfected lines, mosquito
basal immunity was boosted by the novel infection, which contributed to Wolbachiamediated pathogen interference. We also explored the interplay of Wolbachia with mosquito
innate immunity by taking advantage of the currently available reverse genetic tools and
transgenic mosquitoes with immune deficiency. The above results will be discussed in
relation to developing Wolbachia-based strategies for vector-borne disease control.
22
Wolbachia infection lengthens extrinsic incubation period in
dengue infected mosquitoes
Henry Ye
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Scott O'Neill
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Beth McGraw
School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia; beth.mcgraw@monash.edu
The Wolbachia strain wMel, that has been artificially introduced into the dengue virus
mosquito vector Aedes aegypti, decreases the susceptibility of mosquitoes to dengue virus.
The extrinsic incubation period (EIP), which is the time between when a mosquito takes a
dengue infected bloodmeal and the time when the mosquito is capable of infecting a human
on a subsequent bite, is one of the key components of disease transmission. We have
devised a non-destructive method to repeatedly sample the saliva of mosquitoes to obtain
estimates of EIP. We show here that wMel (1) delays EIP in dengue infected mosquitos by
1.1 days, (2) narrows the window of infectivity of infected mosquitoes by around 4 days, (3)
reduces the amount of dengue copy number in mosquito saliva by approximately 3-fold and
(4) reduces the saliva volume produced across the insect's lifespan. Surprisingly, we also
found that (5) wMel lengthened the lifespan of dengue-infected mosquitoes possibly by
lessening their dengue viral burden. These findings allow us to measure the vectorial
capacity of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes and more accurately estimate the impact of
releasing Wolbachia infected mosquitoes as a strategy to reduce dengue transmission.
23
Wolbachia destabilizes mosquito population dynamics
Arndt Telschow
Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany; a.telschow@wwu.de
Florian Grziwotz
Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany
Philip Crain
Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany
Takeshi Miki
National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Jimmy Mains
University of Kentucky, USA
George Sugihara
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA
Steven L. Dobson
University of Kentucky, USA
Chi-hao Hsiesh
National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Mosquitoes are important vectors for disease transmission in humans and livestock, causing
worldwide problems for public health and agriculture. Recent efforts in pest control focus on
biological control strategies that incapacitate the pathogen inside the vector by altering the
vector's microbiome. A prominent example is the release of intracellular bacteria Wolbachia
into natural mosquito populations with the aim to eliminate dengue fever. However, whether
such artificial infections can be a successful strategy to control vector-borne diseases and
minimize the risks associated with releasing potential disease vectors is still under debate.
Here, we demonstrate that Wolbachia can destabilize mosquito population dynamics by
contrasting Wolbachia-infected versus uninfected cage populations of the Asian tiger
mosquito (Aedes albopictus). We found that the population variability (measured as
coefficient of variation of population size through time) of the infected cages is significantly
higher than that of the uninfected cages. The elevated population variability is explained by
the increasing nonlinear dynamics, as quantified by nonlinear time series analyses (S-Map
analysis, state space reconstruction). In conclusion, the results suggest two potential risks
for using Wolbachia in biological control programs. First, boom-and-bust of the mosquito
population size is more likely to occur in Wolbachia-infected than in uninfected populations.
Second, Wolbachia-infected mosquito populations are more difficult to manage because the
higher degree of non-linearity makes their population dynamics less predictable. These
findings have important management implications for the use of artificial bacterial infections
as control of mosquitoes and vector-borne diseases.
24
Wolbachia can enhance pathogen infection in mosquito vectors
Jason L. Rasgon
Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State University, USA; jlr54@psu.edu
Brittany L. Dodson
Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State University, USA
Grant L. Hughes
Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State University, USA
Laura D. Kramer
Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, USA
Due to its ability to suppress pathogen infection in vector arthropods, laboratory and field
investigations are currently ongoing for the use of Wolbachia to control arthropod-borne
diseases. However, it has become clear that Wolbachia infection does not always lead to
pathogen suppression in insects. Multiple studies using rodent and avian malaria models
suggest that Wolbachia may enhance some Plasmodium parasites in mosquitoes, but to this
point enhancement has not been observed for any human pathogens. We evaluated the
effects of Wolbachia on infection, dissemination and transmission of West Nile virus (WNV)
in the naturally uninfected mosquito Culex tarsalis. Wolbachia reached high titers and
disseminated to numerous tissues including the head, proboscis, thoracic flight muscles, fat
body and ovarian follicles. Contrary to other systems, Wolbachia did not inhibit WNV in this
mosquito. Rather, WNV infection rate was significantly higher in Wolbachia-infected
mosquitoes compared to controls. Quantitative PCR indicated that REL1 (the activator of the
antiviral Toll immune pathway) was downregulated in Wolbachia-infected relative to control
mosquitoes. This is the first observation of Wolbachia-induced enhancement of a human
pathogen in mosquitoes, suggesting that caution should be applied before using Wolbachia
as part of a vector-borne disease control program.
25
Frequency of antiviral protection and correlation with
cytoplasmic incompatibility: insights from a comparative
analysis of Wolbachia strains
Julien Martinez
Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK; jtm35@cam.ac.uk
Ben Longdon
Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK
Simone Bauer
Suzan Ok
Wolfgang J. Miller
Laboratories of Genome Dynamics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Kostas Bourtzis
Insect Pest Control Laboratory, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Vienna,
Austria
Luis Teixeira
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
Francis M. Jiggins
In the last few years, Wolbachia has been shown to play an important role in protecting
Drosophila and mosquito hosts against viral infection. While the mechanisms remain unclear,
it was shown that not all bacterial strains have the ability to confer protection. In order to
assess the frequency of such an induced phenotype, we have investigated antiviral
protection in 19 Wolbachia strains originating from 16 Drosophila species after transfer into
the same genotype of D. simulans. We found that approximately half of the strains protected
against two RNA viruses, suggesting that a substantial proportion of insect species may
benefit from Wolbachia-mediated protection. The level of protection against two distantly
related RNA viruses – DCV and FHV – was strongly genetically correlated, which suggests
that there is a single mechanism of protection with broad specificity. Furthermore, Wolbachia
is mainly providing resistance to viral infection, as the increases in survival following infection
can be largely explained by reductions in viral titer. Variation in antiviral protection provided
by different Wolbachia strains is genetically correlated to their density within the host,
supporting previous data. Finally, we found no correlation between protection and the ability
to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), showing that the most protective strains do not
necessarily have the highest invasive potential by means of CI. Moreover, Wolbachia
infection was in some cases associated with costs which might represent a limitation for the
use of Wolbachia as a biocontrol agent to prevent the spread of arboviruses.
26
Medfly - gut microbiota - Wolbachia tripartite symbiosis:
assessing effects on fitness, mating behavior and pest control
George Kyritsis
Austria
Antonios Augustinos
Austria
Daniela Schneider
Vangelis Doudoumis
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, Agrinio, Greece
Helias Asimakis
Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, Agrinio, Greece
Wolfgang J. Miller
Nikolaos Papadopoulos
Laboratory of Entomology and Agricultural Zoology, University of Thessaly, N. Ionia Magnisia, Greece
George Tsiamis
Carlos Caceres
Austria
Kostas Bourtzis
Austria; K.Bourtzis@iaea.org
The Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly), Ceratitis capitata, is one of the most important
agricultural pests worldwide. In many countries, the control of this pest is currently based on
the development of Genetic Sexing Strains (GSSs) and their application in programs
incorporating the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), an irradiation-induced male sterility
approach. Wolbachia-infected lines have also been established and express 100%
Cytoplasmic Incompatibility (CI) and could potentially be useful for the development of
Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT), a Wolbachia-induced male sterility approach, and / or
the enhancement of SIT programs. In addition, a number of studies have shown that the
gut-associated microbiota of medfly plays a significant role on host life history traits. In this
study, we will present data about the effect of Wolbachia on host fitness and mating
behavior as well on the diversity and structure of the gut-associated microbiota. Our results
are of major importance for programs which aim to control pests and diseases using
exclusively or combining Wolbachia-based approaches.
27
28
8 June 2014
Morning symposia
29
An integrated approach to dissect the mechanisms of Wolbachia
tropism
Horacio Frydman
Department of Biology, Boston University, USA; hfrydman@bu.edu
Eva Fast
Department of Biology, Boston University, USA
Michelle Toomey
Rama Krishna Simhadri
Ajit Kamath
Mark Deehan
Tissue tropism is a fundamental aspect of host-microbe interactions. Wolbachia have a
peculiar tropism for the microenvironment that supports stem cells in the Drosophila ovary,
known as stem cell niches. This niche tropism facilitates germline colonization promoting
successful infection of the next generation. The cellular and molecular basis for niche tropism
are not well understood. We are dissecting Wolbachia – host interaction using a combination
of cellular, molecular, developmental and computational approaches in Drosophila cell lines
and whole organism. We have measured the dynamics of Wolbachia density and proliferation
in the developing host, and found that the Wolbachia intracellular accumulation is driven
mostly by higher division rates of bacteria that infect niche cells. Towards identifying the
host molecular pathways responsible for this tropism, we performed a high-throughput
sequencing on Drosophila melanogaster cell lines that are stably infected with Wolbachia and
found approximately 1000 genes statistically significantly modified by infection. Host genes
that regulate or are part of the stem cell maintenance, cell cycle, metamorphosis, adhesion,
sugar metabolism, immunity, proteolysis and antioxidants are transcriptionally affected.
Using bioinformatic tools we determined a set of core pathways with potentially relevant
biological roles in Wolbachia tropism. These candidate pathways are being tested for their
functional significance on Wolbachia tropism and replication in the host cells.
30
A novel Wolbachia tropism: targeting of polar cells in the
Drosophila follicular epithelium
Ajit Kamath
Department of Biology, Boston University, USA; ajit9988@bu.edu
Michelle Toomey
Horacio Frydman
Wolbachia propagate mainly by vertical transmission via the female oocyte. They are under a
high selective pressure to colonize the female germline and infect the next generation.
However Wolbachia infection is not just limited to the germline cells, but also several somatic
cell populations have been reported to have higher Wolbachia loads compared to
surrounding tissue, including stem cell niches, neurons, trachea and Malpighian tubes. Here
we identify a previously overlooked Wolbachia tropism to the polar cells (PC) in the
Drosophila ovary. PCs are a particular cell type within the follicular epithelium of a Drosophila
egg chamber which have a role in the patterning of the eggshell, oocyte localization and
polarity. During Drosophila oogenesis, we can easily follow all the stages of the PC
development allowing us to investigate the kinetics of the intracellular accumulation of
Wolbachia in the PCs and the surrounding follicular epithelia. Surprisingly, Wolbachia have
been found to co-ordinate their intracellular accumulation with specific developmental events
during oogenesis. Our results show that PC tropism of Wolbachia is acquired through higher
division rates in these cells compared to the surrounding epithelia. In this study, we also
investigate various host factors which are responsible for the specific accumulation of
Wolbachia in these cells. PC tropism provides an additional entry point for Wolbachia into the
oocyte during egg development. This analysis provides us mechanistic insights into the
preferential targeting of Wolbachia to specific host cell types.
31
Mechanisms of Wolbachia tropism to the stem cell niche in the
Drosophila testis
Michelle Toomey
Department of Biology, Boston University, USA; mtoomey5@bu.edu
Ajit Kamath
Horacio Frydman
Wolbachia target the stem cell niches in the Drosophila ovary to enhance germline
colonization and subsequent vertical transmission. This tropism is pervasive across the
Drosophila genus, with the pattern of targeting being evolutionarily conserved. We have
found that tropism to the stem cell niche in the testis, known as the hub, is not evolutionarily
conserved. Using hybrid analysis, we have found that both Wolbachia and host derived
factors are important for tropism in this system. Towards identifying the cellular and
molecular mechanisms of cell tropism, we are investigating hub targeting of the closely
related Wolbachia strains wMel and wMelPop, which differ significantly in their frequencies
and densities of hub infection. The targeting discrepancy of these two strains of Wolbachia
indicate that this phenotype is rapidly evolving, as they shared a common ancestor only
8,000 years ago. With the plethora of tools available in D. melanogaster, we are using a
candidate gene approach to target host proteins enriched in the stem cell niche in the testis
for RNAi mediated knockdown in the hub. We have identified Drosophila stem cell related
signaling pathways that promote Wolbachia accumulation. Understanding the cellular and
molecular bases of tissue tropism is a fundamental aspect of Wolbachia-host interactions.
32
Assessing Wolbachia dynamics in the Drosophila ovary
Colin Malone
Skirball Institute, NYUMC, New York, USA; colin.malone@med.nyu.edu
Yolande Grobler
Skirball Institute, NYUMC, New York, USA
Ruth Lehmann
Skirball Institute, NYUMC, New York, USA
In order to investigate the molecular relationships underlying Wolbachia infection, we have
undertaken tissue-specific RNAi screening for host genes that influence Wolbachia dynamics.
We assayed approximately 1,000 germline RNAi knock-down lines which produce ovarian
phenotypes and drove these knock-downs in the presence or absence of Wolbachia to ask
whether the bacteria would modify the previously determined phenotypes. After measuring
egg laying, fertility and ovarian morphology, we observed little difference other than flies laid
fewer eggs when infected with Wolbachia.
Additionally, we have continued several directed approaches to understand the experience of
cells during infection, and how host-cells influence bacterial behavior. We performed gene
expression profiling and identified validated numerous host-genes up-regulated during
infection. We used this finding to develop a single-molecule RNA FISH assay allowing us to
visualize Wolbachia transcripts during ovarian development. We have now paired this with
tissue-specific gene knock-downs, allowing us to assay bacterial density and gene
expression. We have continued selected host-gene knock-downs in immune, metabolic and
mitochondrial pathways to assess the dynamics of mitochondrial and bacterial responses
within the ovary. Our continued work will be discussed.
33
Wolbachia in the mind – a mutualistic puppet master
orchestrating proper host sexual behaviour
Anton A. Strunov
Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
Daniela Schneider
Lee Ehrmann
Natural Sciences, SUNY, Purchase, USA
Wolfgang J. Miller
Laboratories of Genome Dynamics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; wolfgang.miller@meduniwien.ac.at
Wolbachia of the neotropical Drosophila species cluster D. paulistorum present one of the
rare examples of conspecificity and obligate mutualism in arthropods. This neotropical
species cluster is currently under incipient speciation in nature, consisting of six
reproductively isolated semispecies that each harbour closely-related but reciprocally
incompatible Wolbachia strains. In their native hosts these endosymbionts have evolved
fixed vital interactions by affecting fecundity and viability of flies. In mixed genetic
backgrounds of F1 hybrids between semispecies however, mutualistic Wolbachia transform
into pathogens by overreplication via loss of replication control, and thereby cause
embryonic mortality and sterility. As recently shown by our group neotropical Wolbachia
(wPau) also influence host sexual behaviour by affecting female assortative mating, i.e. by
orchestrating proper mate recognition, most likely via pheromone perception and
interpretation.
Here we have surveyed via FISH analyses in detail the temporal and spatial titer dynamics
and tissue tropism of the mutualist in adult fly brains and found that, in contrast to wMel,
the presence of wPau is exclusively restricted to well-defined brain regions which are known
for being functionally important for pheromone perception, signal interpretation as well as
learning and longterm memory.
34
The impact of dietary nutrition on intracellular Wolbachia titer
Laura Serbus
Separtment of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, USA; lserbus@fiu.edu
Pamela White
MCD Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Roger Albertson
Biology Department, Albion College, USA
Amanda Rabe
William Sullivan
While a number of studies have identified host factor that influence endosymbiont titer, little
is known concerning environmental influences on endosymbiont titer. To address this, we
examined nutrient impact on maternally transmitted Wolbachia endosymbionts in Drosophila.
We show that feeding either laboratory-reared or wild-caught Drosophila a yeast-enriched
diet dramatically suppressed Wolbachia titer carried within germline-derived oocytes. This
yeast-induced titer reduction is mediated in large part by somatic Tor and insulin signaling
pathways. Disrupting Tor with the small molecule Rapamycin dramatically increases oocyte
Wolbachia titer, whereas hyper-activating somatic TORC1 suppresses oocyte titer.
Furthermore, ablation of insulin producing cells located in the Drosophila brain eliminated
yeast impact on oocyte titer. By contrast, dietary yeast had no impact on Wolbachia titer in
the somatically derived central nervous system. These findings highlight the interactions
between Wolbachia and germline cells as distinctive in sensitivity to insulin and TORC1mediated nutrient responses.
35
Necessity is the mother of invention: actin manipulations by the
reproductive parasite Wolbachia pipientis
Irene L. G. Newton
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA; irnewton@indiana.edu
Kathy B. Sheehan
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
Cammie F. Lesser
Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, USA
Ralph R. Isberg
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, USA
The obligately intracellular Wolbachia pipientis is a ubiquitous α-proteobacterial symbiont of
insects and nematodes related to the Rickettsial pathogens Ehrlichia and Anaplasma. Studies
of Wolbachia cell biology suggest that this bacterium is capable of manipulating host cortical
actin during transmission between somatic cells and the germ line. Here, we identified and
characterized Wolbachia proteins that localize to or disrupt the eukaryotic actin cytoskeleton.
Two of these proteins (WD0830 and WD1171) induce growth defects in yeast upon
expression, supporting their role as secreted bacterial effectors. In further support of their
interaction with the cytoskeleton, expression of these two proteins abrogates or exacerbates
growth defects in the context of the yeast morphogenesis checkpoint kinase mutant
(∆swe1). We present an in depth analysis of one of these candidate secreted effectors,
WalE1 (WD0830), a protein that promotes actin polymerization through direct interaction
with actin and a reduction in the critical concentration of actin. This bacterial protein is
unique, having no homology to previously identified formins or actin nucleating domain
structures and is the first identification of any Wolbachia protein that alters actin
polymerization dynamics. Finally, we analyze effects of WalE1 expression on the actin
cytoskeleton and the Wolbachia-Drosophila symbiosis in the context of cell lines and germ
line stem cell niche tropism. We suggest these Wolbachia proteins, and WalE1 specifically,
may be utilized by the bacterium during invasion of the stem cell niche.
36
Fitness benefits of a facultative symbiont are influenced by host
nuclear genotype
Martha S. Hunter
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; mhunter@ag.arizona.edu
Anna G. Himler
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
Peter Asiimwe
Suzanne E. Kelly
Bodil N. Cass
Netta Mozes-Daube
Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, Israel
Einat Zchori-Fein
Some arthropod-associated symbionts such as Wolbachia, known previously only as
reproductive parasites, have recently been shown to benefit their hosts through nutrition and
/ or defense. Multiple roles of symbionts create more possibilities for genetic conflict among
host and symbiont genes. The global whitefly species complex Bemisia tabaci has several
facultative bacterial symbionts, among which Rickettsia sp. nr. bellii is common worldwide.
Rickettsia swept rapidly to near fixation in the invasive B. tabaci "B" species in the
southwestern USA in the early 2000s. In a laboratory line established from a local
population, Rickettsia causes fitness benefits such as greater fecundity, developmental
success and shorter development times as well as reproductive manipulation in the form of
strongly female-biased sex ratios. We found differences in the phenotype of Rickettsia,
however, in a second whitefly line collected from the same population. While Rickettsia
appears to increase performance in both lines, the magnitude of benefit varies. We used
introgression between the lines to separate the contributions to the Rickettsia phenotype of
the host cytotype (including the primary symbiont Portiera, the fixed symbiont Hamiltonella,
and mitochondrial genes) from those of the nuclear genotype. Our results suggest whitefly
nuclear genotype is more important than cytotype in influencing Rickettsia expression.
Furthermore, field surveys in Israel show a decline in Rickettsia frequency in whiteflies from
2000-2012, where earlier work found few fitness benefits associated with Rickettsia
infection. In general, our results suggest that differences in the Rickettsia phenotype in
whiteflies underlie the variable frequencies of Rickettsia in whiteflies worldwide, and raise
the question: if Rickettsia is so good for whiteflies, why is there host control of the Rickettsia
phenotype?
37
Beyond single-bacterium symbiosis: factors correlated with
variation in symbiotic communities of insects
Einat Zchori-Fein
Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Ramat Yishay, Israel; einat@agri.gov.il
Tamar Lahav
Shiri Freilich
The target of natural selection is suggested to be the holobiont – the organism together with
its associated symbiotic microorganisms. The well-defined endosymbiotic communities of
insects make them a useful model for exploring the role of symbiotic interactions in shaping
the functional repertoire of plants and animals. Here, we studied the variations in the
symbiotic communities of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci by compiling a dataset of over 2,000
individuals derived from several independent screenings. The facultative bacteria harbored
by each individual were clustered into entities termed secondary symbiont community
(SSCs), each representing a natural assemblage of co-occurring bacterial species. The
association of SSCs with whitefly individuals stratified the otherwise homogeneous
population into holobiont units. We both identified community structures that are specific to
whitefly groups sharing unique genetic backgrounds, and characterized the SSC variations
within these groups. The analysis revealed that community variations are typically associated
with ecological preferences, and that SSC complexity is positively correlated with both
distance from the equator and specificity of the insect host interaction. Our findings point to
the role of host-community and intra community interactions in shaping community
structure, and encourage further exploration of the functional significance of community
variations.
38
8 June 2014
Afternoon symposia
39
Coxiella endosymbionts in the Rhipicephalus sanguineus brown
tick species group
Yuval Gottlieb
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel; yuvalgd@yahoo.com
Itai Lalzar
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University, Rehovot, Israel
Lisa Klasson
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Uppsala, Sweden
Obligatory interactions between arthropods and microbial symbionts stem from a stressful
environment or restricted resources, such as diet. Ticks, which are pestiferous obligatory
blood feeders that have to cope with long periods of starvation between blood meals, are
therefore expected to be inhabited primary obligatory symbionts. Although evidence for the
presence of obligatory symbiotic bacteria in ticks has accumulated over the years, little is
known about specific tick-symbiont interactions. We recently demonstrated a possible
obligatory association between a symbiotic bacterium of the genus Coxiella and two of the
brown tick species group: Rhipicephalus sanguineus and R. turanicus. Coxiella was prevalent
in all individuals examined, did not interact quantitatively with other secondary symbionts,
was specifically localized to the Malpighian tubules and female gonad tissues, and was
maternally transmitted. The genome of the symbiotic Coxiella, however, demonstrates
genomic characterizations of both primary and secondary known symbionts of insects, as it
has a 1.7 Mbp chromosome in which there are only 922 protein-coding genes, and only
48.7% of the genome content is coding. The possible evolution route and function of
Coxiella in Rhipicephalus spp. will be discussed in light of these findings.
40
Phylogenomics and evolution of symbiont-mediated protection
to pathogens
Luís Teixeira
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal; lteixeira@igc.gulbenkian.pt
Wolbachia protect several insects from viral infection. This tripartite interaction was initially
described in Drosophila melanogaster carrying wMel, its natural Wolbachia strain. wMel has
been shown to be genetically polymorphic and there has been a recent change in variant
frequencies in natural populations.
We have compared the antiviral protection conferred by different wMel variants, their titres
and influence on host longevity. The phenotypes cluster the variants into two groups wMelCS-like and wMel-like. wMelCS-like variants give stronger protection against viruses,
reach higher titres and often shorten the host lifespan. We have sequenced and assembled
the genomes of these Wolbachia, and shown that the two phenotypic groups are two
monophyletic groups. Our results indicate that the more protective wMelCS-like variants,
which may have a cost, were replaced by the less protective but more benign wMel-like
variants in natural populations.
We are currently analyzing how wMel variants frequencies change under experimental
evolution on an outbred D. melanogaster population infected with Drosophila C virus. This
will elucidate to what extent selection can act on maternally transmitted symbionts variation
when a host phenotype is under selection.
Our work helps to understand the natural variation in wMel and its evolutionary dynamics
and informs the use of Wolbachia in arthropod-borne disease control.
41
Host-symbiont interactions at the symbiotic interfaces of
obligately blood-sucking insects
Filip Husnik
Department of Parasitology, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; filip@paru.cas.cz
Eva Novakova
Department of Parasitology, University of South Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Eva Sochova
Alistair Darby
University of Liverpool, UK
Vaclav Hypsa
Insects living exclusively on vertebrate blood, such as lice, bedbugs, Triatominae bugs or
blood-sucking flies (louse flies, bat flies and tsetse flies), rely on symbiotic bacteria to
supplement the nutrients missing from their blood diet (B-vitamins and cofactors). Although
these insects are common vectors of pathogens, data on their interactions with the host, as
well as the interactions among the mutualistic and parasitic members of the microbiome, are
scarce. We characterize a simple but specific symbiotic system within the sheep parasite
Melophagus ovinus (Diptera: Hippoboscidae). The system is composed of obligatory
mutualists Arsenophonus melophagi and four additional facultative microorganisms, three
bacteria (Sodalis melophagi, Bartonella melophagi and Wolbachia), and one kinetoplastid
(Trypanosoma melophagium). Using combination of microscopy, genome sequencing and
RNA-seq, we untangle interactions within the system and compare it to the functionally
convergent, but phylogenetically independent symbiotic systems of other blood-sucking
insects.
42
Wolbachia-arthropod mutualisms: some comments on pathogen
interference, dependence, tolerance, and resistance
Roman Zug
Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany; roman.zug@biologie.hu-berlin.de
Peter Hammerstein
Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Wolbachia are the most abundant bacterial endosymbionts among arthropods. They are
notorious for their reproductive parasitism which, although lowering host fitness, ensures
their spread. However, even for reproductive parasites it can pay to enhance host fitness.
Indeed, there is increasing evidence of Wolbachia-associated fitness benefits, suggesting
that the symbionts can also behave as mutualists, both of the facultative and obligate type.
In particular, many studies report Wolbachia-induced anti-pathogenic effects, e.g. against
several RNA viruses, different Plasmodium species, and bacteria. Here we critically assess
the biological relevance of such Wolbachia-induced pathogen interference. To this end, it is
crucial to check whether pathogen interference does occur in nature and, if yes, whether it is
associated with a fitness benefit to the host. Based on a literature survey, we find that, so
far, there is only limited support for a fitness-enhancing effect of anti-pathogenic effects in
natural Wolbachia–host interactions.
In contrast to facultative mutualisms such as protection against pathogens, there are other
Wolbachia–arthropod interactions where the host strictly depends on symbiont presence for
reproduction or survival. We show that, frequently, such cases of host dependence (obligate
mutualisms) arise through the evolution of tolerance (or "compensatory evolution") in the
host. Originally, tolerance evolved as a means to cope with the harmful effects of Wolbachia
infection. However, tolerance mechanisms are costly in the absence of infection and thus
tend to render the host dependent on Wolbachia. Once the host depends on its symbiont,
evolution of resistance (another host strategy to cope with infection) is no longer an option.
This might explain why host resistance to Wolbachia has been found only so rarely, given
that selection would act on hosts to suppress reproductive parasites.
43
Speciation by symbiosis: what have we learned so far?
Seth Bordenstein
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA; s.bordenstein@vanderbilt.edu
Rob Brucker
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA
In the early 20th century, Ivan Wallin conceived a significant role for microorganisms in the
origin of species because he discovered the bacterial nature of mitochondria. The idea was
subsequently resurrected and popularized by Lynn Margulis. Since then, several studies on
Wolbachia helped ground the evidence for speciation by symbiosis and "moved the needle"
from a controversy to a reality. I will consolidate this history and discuss how Wolbachiabased studies were just a beginning for blending microbial symbionts and nuclear genes, i.e.
the hologenome, into a unified theory on the origin of species.
44
Dobzhansky-Muller and Wolbachia-induced incompatibilities in
a diploid genetic system
Peter Hammerstein
Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany; p.hammerstein@biologie.hu-berlin.de
Arndt Telschow
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany
Genetic incompatibilities are supposed to play an important role in speciation. A general
theoretical problem is to explain the persistence of genetic diversity after secondary contact.
Previous work has pointed out that Dobzhansky-Muller incompatibilities (DMI) are not stable
in the face of migration unless local selection acts on the alleles involved in incompatibility.
With local selection, genetic variability exists up to a critical migration rate but is lost when
migration exceeds this threshold value. Here, we investigate the effect of intracellular
Wolbachia on the stability of hybrid zones formed after the Dobzhansky Muller model.
Wolbachia are known to cause a cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) within and between
species. Incorporating Wolbachia into speciation scenarios can lead to a significant increase
of critical migration rates and maintenance of divergence, primarily because Wolbachiainduced incompatibility acts to reduce frequencies of F1 hybrids. Wolbachia infect up to twothirds of all insect species and it is therefore likely that CI co-occurs with DMI in nature. The
results indicate that both isolating mechanisms strengthen each other and under some
circumstances act synergistically. Thus they can drive speciation processes more forcefully
than either when acting alone. Moving from the abstract to the concrete, however, a number
of puzzles remain. While two North American fruit fly species (Drosophila recens and D.
subquinaria) serve as a showcase of CI-aided speciation, this fascinating system remains
difficult to grasp theoretically.
45
Turn up the heat and you’ll get more sons! Bacterially facilitated
temperature dependent sex ratio in an Australian species of
thrips
Duong Nguyen
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, Australia
Robert Spooner-Hart
School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, Australia
Markus Riegler
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, Australia;
m.riegler@uws.edu.au
Kelly’s citrus thrips, Pezothrips kellyanus (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), is an economically
important pest of citrus in Australasia and the Mediterranean region. We investigated the
genetic diversity of P. kellyanus populations collected from its current range in order to
detect its most likely origin. In this way, we also detected Cardinium and Wolbachia for the
first time and studied their roles in the reproduction of this species.
Based on genetic markers and infection diversity we conclude that P. kellyanus is more likely
to originate from Australasia. Australian populations are infected with both Wolbachia and
Cardinium. Antibiotic treatment resulted in the establishment of uninfected populations and
populations singly infected with Cardinium, while establishment of populations singly infected
with Wolbachia failed. In combination, both infections caused cytoplasmic incompatibility in
crosses between uninfected females and infected males. This resulted in embryonic mortality
of fertilised diploid females but survival of unfertilised haploid males, and thus in all-male
offspring. This is the first evidence of CI in the order Thysanoptera, potentially induced by
either Cardinium or Wolbachia, or both, and we are currently testing their relative roles. We
were surprised to find that not all fertilised females delivered the expected all-female
offspring, suggesting male fertility problems in the absence of Cardinium and Wolbachia.
Intriguingly, bacterial infections appear to restore fertility in infected individuals at lower
temperature, resulting in more female-biased sex ratios at 20°C while at 25°C the sex ratio is
comparable to that of uninfected thrips. Such a combined temperature and bacterial effect
on sex ratio in P. kellyanus is unique, as sex in most insects is genetically determined and
not influenced by temperature. This interaction could potentially enable this species to adapt
its reproductive output to seasonal temperature changes.
46
9 June 2014
Morning symposia
47
Wolbachia outbreak in tsetse fly hybrids: symbiont titer
regulation, bi-directional CI, and overcoming of male hybrid
sterility
Daniela I. Schneider
Laboratories of Genome Dynamics, Medical University of Vienna, Austria; daniela.schneider@meduniwien.ac.at
Andrew G. Parker
Austria
Adly M. M. Abd-Alla
Austria
Drion G. Boucias
Entomolgy and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
Kostas Bourtzis
Austria
Wolfgang J. Miller
Tsetse flies (Glossina) are vectors of Trypanosoma, causative agent of Human African
Sleeping sickness. They have evolved an intimate relationship with three microbial
endosymbionts: Wigglesworthia glossinida, Sodalis glossinidus and Wolbachia. They impact
essential host traits like female fertility, larval development, reproduction and parasite
immunity. It was suggested earlier to exploit cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) to induce
natural reproductive sterility in tsetse populations and consequently block transmission of
Trypanosoma. This idea is currently revived as strong unidirectional CI was observed among
crosses between Wolbachia-infected and antibiotic-treated Glossina morsitans group
members. Natural hybridization between Glossina species has been reported repeatedly,
suggesting weak pre-mating barriers to hybrid formation. However, hybrids exhibit reduced
female fecundity and male sterility under laboratory conditions.
Here, we show that besides uni-directional CI, Wolbachia also trigger bi-directional CI in the
Glossina morsitans group. We further demonstrate intensive Wolbachia increase in tsetse
inter-species hybrids and speculate that disturbance of the native host-symbiont equilibrium
in hybrids can transform Wolbachia into pathogens by loss of replication control. This might
consequently trigger hybrid incompatibilities between tsetse flies and thereby host speciation
as a side effect. In addition, we discuss the regulation of the other key bacterial
endosymbionts Wigglesworthia and Sodalis in mixed hybrid backgrounds. Finally, we
demonstrate that male hybrid sterility can be successfully overcome by knock-down of male
Wolbachia titer.
48
What can we infer from symbionts titre in their respective
Drosophila host tissues?
Rupinder Kaur
Department of Agriculture and Sustainable Bioresources, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy;
rupinderkaur@fmach.it
Thomas Hummel
Department of Neurobiology, University of Vienna, Austria
Omar Rota-Stabelli
Department of Agriculture and Sustainable Bioresources, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy
Wolfgang J. Miller
The endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia is considered as a potential biological tool for
controlling invasive insect pest populations such as Drosophila suzukii (Dsuz), which has
recently invaded European countries and come out as an emerging threat for fresh fruit
cultivation. Recent reports have shown that European Dsuz harbors a new Wolbachia strain
named wSuzi, related to the strong CI-causing wRi strain of D. simulans. Nothing is known
behind this novel host-microbial integrative biology as yet. Thus, to get more insights into
this symbiotic relationship, we have examined Wolbachia tissue tropism in adult Dsuz
individuals sampled according to different age status. Quantitative Real Time PCR (qRT-PCR)
was used to calculate density of Wolbachia in reproductive as well as in different somatic
tissues of 1, 7, 14 and 21 days old Dsuz flies of both sexes. We detected significant
differences in Wolbachia titre 1) between reproductive organs of males and females, 2)
among different somatic tissues, 3) based on different age groups. Notably, in male gonads,
Wolbachia density substantially decreases with age, suggesting the possible use of
Wolbachia-rich young males to evaluate their CI-inducing capability. Results will be further
discussed with those obtained from D. simulans and D. melanogaster harboring their
respective wRi and wMel strains. Thereby this approach will help in evaluating the potential
use of wSuzi to control Dsuz population in future.
49
A worm in bacterial clothing: proteomic analysis supports the
hypothesis that Wolbachia-driven recruitment of neutrophil
antimicrobial proteins protects Onchocerca ochengi against
eosinophils
Germanus S. Bah
Department of Infection Biology, University of Liverpool, UK
Stuart D. Armstrong
Vincent N. Tanya
Institut de Recherche Agricole pour le Développement, Regional Centre of Wakwa, Ngaoundéré, Cameroon
Jonathan M. Wastling
Benjamin L. Makepeace
Department of Infection Biology, University of Liverpool, UK; blm1@liv.ac.uk
Onchocerciasis is currently controlled by annual mass drug administration of a single
anthelminthic, ivermectin. Although this drug is highly effective at reducing disease
symptoms, it does not kill the long-lived adult filarial worms (Onchocerca volvulus),
necessitating repeated treatments for >15 years. Both O. volvulus and the closely related
bovine parasite O. ochengi have a mutualistic relationship with Wolbachia. Clearance of this
symbiont using tetracycline leads to killing of adult Onchocerca spp. approximately one year
post-treatment. However, the precise mechanism of action remains unclear. In this study,
we treated O. ochengi-infected cattle with a short, ineffective oxytetracycline regimen or
prolonged, adulticidal therapy. Female worms were removed from nodules in bovine skin at
three time-points (0, 12 and 36 weeks post-treatment), and protein extracts were subjected
to label-free, quantitative proteomics on an Orbitrap Velos mass spectrometer.
Approximately 1,500 proteins were quantifiable per sample, with 30% derived from the
worm, 70% from the bovine host, and <1% from Wolbachia. Around 100 proteins were
differentially regulated, of which the vast majority were host-derived, although Wolbachia
protein levels were significantly reduced in the prolonged treatment group as expected.
Conversely, there was little impact on the expression of worm proteins, except for a
glutathione S-transferase and small number of intracellular signalling proteins. The largest
group of downregulated bovine proteins were neutrophil-derived antimicrobial proteins,
particularly cathelicidins, azurocidin and cathepsin G. In parallel, a bovine homologue of
eosinophil major basic protein was upregulated. These data support the hypothesis that
Wolbachia induces an ineffective neutrophilic response that is disrupted by antibiotic
therapy, ultimately leading to immune clearance of the worms by eosinophils.
50
A•WOL macrofilaricidal drug discovery and development –
optimization of anti-Wolbachia efficacy
Louise Ford
Parasitology Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; louise.ford@liverpool.ac.uk
Gemma L. Nixon
Parasitology Department, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
Kelly L. Johnston
Joseph D. Turner
Neil G. Berry
Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, UK
Paul M. O'Neill
Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, UK
Stephen A. Ward
Mark J. Taylor
There is an urgent need to develop a novel treatment for filariasis, and targeting Wolbachia
provides safe macrofilaricidal activity with superior therapeutic outcomes compared to
standard anti-filarial treatments. The Anti-Wolbachia (A•WOL) Consortium has developed
both in vitro and in vivo assays, to screen chemical libraries for anti-Wolbachia activity. The
outputs from the A•WOL program are now being pursued as part of A•WOL II Macrofilaricide
Drug Discovery & Development programs. Screening of >10,000 compounds from the
BioFocus library and chemoinformatic analysis have generated six independent lead series
chemotypes with the potential to enter a medicinal chemistry "hit-to-lead" and lead
optimization program. A•WOL Drug Discovery is now progressing these lead series through a
rigorous lead optimisation and candidate selection process, using iterative cycles of medicinal
chemistry and biological testing in order to deliver at least one novel pre-clinical candidate
and a chemically distinct back-up, aligned with our target product profiles for an antiWolbachia macrofilaricide. In addition, ongoing screening of large diversity-based libraries
(150 - 500 k compounds) aims to provide additional, chemically diverse hits, with one-order
improvement in absolute potency or significant shortening of treatment time, in order to
expand the structural diversity of anti-Wolbachia chemotypes. A•WOL Drug Development is
optimising regimens of anti-Wolbachia monotherapy and combination treatment of registered
anti-Wolbachia and anti-filarial drugs in vivo using an adult Brugia malayi mouse model. This
efficacy testing is driven by a rational PK/PD modelling approach which supports dosage
regimens, in order to identify the best treatment regimens to test in field trials.
51
Functional analysis of the host immune response in the
symbiotic association between the pill-bug Armadillidium
vulgare and the feminising Wolbachia
Cyril Noël
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France
Yves Moné
Marie-Christine Carpentier
Fabrice Vavre
Pierre Grève
Frédéric Chevalier
Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, USA
Christine Braquart-Varnier
Bouziane Moumen
Didier Bouchon
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; didier.bouchon@univ-poitiers.fr
Today, there is a wide consensus on the essential role of microbial associations to eukaryote
evolution. In most cases, the relationship between host and symbiont is so close that the
microorganisms cannot be cultured, making them difficult to study. However, highthroughput sequencing has offered new opportunities for symbiosis research.
Due to their widespread association with the Wolbachia endosymbionts, terrestrial isopods
represent a model system to understand intimate symbioses. Wolbachia are vertically
transmitted facultative bacteria acting as reproductive parasites in isopods, inducing the
feminisation of genetic males in the pill bug Armadillidium vulgare. Among the three
feminising Wolbachia identified in this host, two strains (wVulC and wVulM) vary in their
prevalence and extended phenotypes. wVulC, the most prevalent strain exhibiting the
strongest feminising effect, is also the most virulent strain inducing various fitness costs.
To decipher the conflicting associations between wVulC, wVulM and A. vulgare, RNA-seq
experiments were conducted on cDNA libraries prepared from ovaries and from whole
animals challenged by pathogenic intracellular bacteria according to their Wolbachia infection
status. Reference transcriptome was constructed by de novo assembly and annotated.
Immune genes were identified and compared to the immune repertoire of Daphnia pulex,
the only one crustacean genome published today. Identification of differentially expressed
immune genes (DE) was then carried out using the R package DESeq. Interestingly the
highest number of DE genes was recorded in the animals infected by the less virulent strain
wVulM. In most treatments, these DE genes could be assigned to GO categories that are
underrepresented when Wolbachia are on board. This study is part of the widest program
ImmunSymbArt granted by the French National Research Agency which aims to determine
the symbiotic syndrome in four arthropod systems.
52
A bug may hide another: cryptic Wolbachia in unfeminized
lineages of Armadillidium vulgare
Lise-Marie Genty
Maryline Raimond
Didier Bouchon
Joanne Bertaux
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; joanne.bertaux@univ-poitiers.fr
Among the Wolbachia-host symbioses a growing number of unexpected low titer infections
has been described in bark beetles, Drosophila paulistorum complex of species, aphids, D.
simulans, tse-tse fly and cherry fly. For 30 years our laboratory has bred distinct lineages of
the terrestrial isopod Armadillidium vulgare, steadily infected or uninfected with Wolbachia.
However, using Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) and nested PCR, we showed that
females from laboratory lineages regarded as uninfected were actually infected with cryptic
Wolbachia. While Wolbachia have a feminizing effect in A. vulgare, the crypto-infected
lineages have an equilibrated sex ratio. Moreover, Wolbachia remain undetected with PCR
and TEM, the former standard methods to discriminate between infected and uninfected
lineages.
Even more surprisingly, we also discovered a serendipitous crypto-Wolbachia in males of
infected lineages, whereas they are considered as the individuals who escaped from the
infection. In laboratory lineages both infected with Wolbachia and crypto-infected, males
presented an opposite pattern of infection compared to crypto-infected females, with a huge
infection in gonads and a low infection in the nerve chord. Additionally, we put in relation
Wolbachia and crypto-Wolbachia localization patterns with the host phenotype, under the
hypothesis that Wolbachia presence in some specific cells of the nerve chord is required to
feminize woodlice.
53
A new molecular sexing technique for butterflies – does
Wolbachia really feminise genetic males in Eurema?
Peter Kern
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, Australia; p.kern@uws.edu.au
Daisuke Kageyama
National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Tsukuba, Japan
James M. Cook
Markus Riegler
The endosymbiont Wolbachia can bias sex ratios and modify host sex determination through
cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis, male-killing or feminisation. Feminisation is the
least reported phenotype, mostly detected in terrestrial crustaceans. It also occurs in three
insect species, including two closely related butterfly species in the genus Eurema.
Feminisation cause genetic males to develop into phenotypic and functional females. So far
the main evidence of feminised male butterflies has been the absence of the W chromatin
body that can be detected in true females. However, its detection is not reliable for all
Lepidoptera and a molecular method based on sex chromosomal markers may be better. We
developed a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay, comparing relative gene dose ratios of Zchromosomal genes with an autosomal gene, to differentiate directly between true genotypic
females and Wolbachia feminised males. This test correctly genotyped the sex of butterflies
that lacked the feminising Wolbachia strain wFem. However, all wFem-infected females that
were negative in the W chromatin body assay (thus considered feminised males) also had
female gene dose ratios. These results conflict with the current model of feminisation of
males in Eurema and suggest re-assessment of the role of Wolbachia as feminising agent in
this host.
54
Wolbachia-induced paternal defect in Drosophila is likely by
interaction with the juvenile hormone pathway
Chen Liua
College of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
Jia-Lin Wanga
Ya Zheng
En-Juan Xiong
Jing-Jing Li
Lin-Ling Yuan
Xiao-Qiang Yu
School of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Kansas City, USA
Yu-Feng Wang
College of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; yfengw@mail.ccnu.edu.cn
Wolbachia are endosymbionts that infect many insect species. They can manipulate the
host's reproduction to increase their own maternal transmission. Cytoplasmic incompatibility
(CI) is one such manipulation, which is expressed as embryonic lethality when Wolbachiainfected males mate with uninfected females. However, matings between males and females
carrying the same Wolbachia strain result in viable progeny. The molecular mechanisms of
CI are currently not clear. We have previously reported that the gene Juvenile hormoneinducible protein 26 (JhI-26) exhibited the highest upregulation in the 3rd instar larval testes
of Drosophila melanogaster when infected by Wolbachia. This is reminiscent of an interaction
between Wolbachia and juvenile hormone (JH) pathway in flies. Here we first found that the
expressions of Jhamt and Met, which play key roles in JH pathway, were significantly
increased in the presence of Wolbachia, suggesting an interaction of Wolbachia with the JH
signaling pathway. Then we found that overexpression of JhI-26 in Wolbachia-free
transgenic male flies caused significantly decrease in hatch rate. Surprisingly, Wolbachiainfected females could rescue the egg hatch. Overexpression of JhI-26 caused upregulation
of the male accessory gland protein (Acp) gene CG10433, but not vice versa, suggesting that
JhI-26 may function at the upstream of CG10433. Likewise, overexpression of CG10433 also
led to paternal-effect lethality. Both JhI-26 and CG10433 overexpressing males resulted in
nuclear division defects in the early embryos. Finally, Wolbachia-infected males decreased
the propensity of the mated females to remating, a phenotype also caused by both JhI-26
and CG10433 overexpressing males. Our results provide a working hypothesis whereby
Wolbachia induce paternal defects in Drosophila probably by interaction with the JH pathway
via JH response genes JhI-26 and CG10433.
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31172155).
55
Symbiotic bacteria affect cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in
tsetse flies (Glossina m. morsitans)
Martin Kaltenpoth
Research Group Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany;
mkaltenpoth@ice.mpg.de
Tobias Engl
Research Group Insect Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
Veronika Michalkova
Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA
Brian Weiss
Daniela Schneider
Wolfgang J. Miller
Serap Aksoy
Microbial symbionts play important roles for the ecology and evolution of many insects, with
their most well-known effects being nutritional supplementation, reproductive manipulation,
and defense against antagonists. However, recent studies indicated that symbionts can also
alter the chemical profile of the host and thereby affect mate choice decisions, which can
ultimately result in reproductive isolation and speciation. Here, we investigated the effect of
bacterial symbionts on the host's cuticular hydrocarbon profiles in the multipartite symbiosis
between tsetse flies (Glossina morsitans morsitans) and their associated microbial symbionts,
i.e. Wigglesworthia, Sodalis, and Wolbachia. We manipulated symbiont infection status by
treatment with ampicillin (reducing Wigglesworthia and to a lesser extent Sodalis titers) and
tetracycline (reducing titers of all symbionts, i.e. Wigglesworthia, Sodalis and Wolbachia),
respectively, and subsequently analyzed CHC profiles of male and female offspring ten days
after eclosion. The results revealed that ampicillin treatment did not affect CHC amount or
composition in female offspring, but changed the CHC profile of male offspring. Tetracycline
treatment, on the other hand, strongly affected CHC composition of both female and male
offspring, and it significantly reduced the overall amount of CHCs in males. Furthermore, the
relative amount of the females' contact sex pheromone 15,19,23- trimethyl-heptatriacontane
decreased upon tetracycline treatment. These results provide evidence for an influence of
Wolbachia and possibly Sodalis, as well as – to a lesser extent – Wigglesworthia on the
amount and composition of CHC profiles in G. m. morsitans, which may have important
implications for reproductive success and mate choice in tsetse flies.
56
10 June 2014
Morning symposia
57
Double trouble: multiple endosymbiont infection and multiple
manipulations in a linyphiid spider
Meghan M. Curry
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA
Jennifer A. White
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA; jenawhite@uky.edu
Spiders are host to a plethora of heritable endosymbiotic bacteria, but symbiont function
within spider hosts has rarely been determined. We screened an assemblage of 60 linyphiid
spiders in the genus Mermessus, collected from a single locale, and found 12 different
endosymbiotic strains in the genera Wolbachia, Rickettsia, and Cardinium. In an additional
screen of a single species, M. fradeorum, we detected one Rickettsia and two Wolbachia
strains in multiple combinations. We established laboratory populations of two M. fradeorum
matrilines: one doubly infected with Rickettsia and Wolbachia and one singly infected with
the other Wolbachia strain. The Rickettsia-Wolbachia infected mothers produced extremely
female-biased offspring. Antibiotic treatment successfully eliminated both endosymbionts and
restored the sex ratio to the expected 1:1 in subsequent generations. Fitness assays and
preliminary chromosomal examination suggest a feminizing mechanism. The other Wolbachia
strain induced cytoplasmic incompatibility. In a two-way factorial mating assay between
Wolbachia infected and cured spiders, we found that cured females mated with infected
males produced 73% fewer offspring than all other pairings. Interestingly, in a separate
assay we also found that the Rickettsia-Wolbachia females exhibited CI when mated with
males with this alternative Wolbachia, but at a much lower level, suggesting partial rescue.
These results show that populations of M. fradeorum are composed of individuals with
contrasting reproductive manipulations, and that symbiont infection frequencies are likely
quite dynamic, potentially influencing multiple aspects of spider evolution and ecology.
58
Modulation of microbiome of Drosophila melanogaster by
Wolbachia
Department of Biology, Boston University, USA; ramaks@bu.edu
Eva Fast
Horacio Frydman
The gut microbiome and Wolbachia affect several aspects of their host's biology, including
development, fecundity, lifespan, immunity, metabolism, stem cell activity and even mate
choice. The gut microbiome has also been recently implicated in altering disease transmitting
capabilities of mosquitos. However, the potential interactions of Wolbachia with commensal
bacteria are mostly unknown. Here we show that Wolbachia can alter the composition of the
microbiome of the Drosophila host. We initially observed the changes in the pH of the food
of the flies in a Wolbachia-dependent fashion. By 16S ribosomal sequencing, we identified
differences in the commensal population of infected and non-infected flies as a potential
source of the pH changes in the food. We further characterized the effect of Wolbachia on
the microbiome composition dynamics of flies differentially infected with Wolbachia for
several generations by metagenomic sequencing. We hypothesize that Wolbachia induced
alterations in the immunity, oxidative stress, and metabolism could favor the selection of
certain microbial populations by the host. We are testing these hypotheses by using
Drosophila cell line and whole organism assays. This study raises the possibility that
Wolbachia-host interactions could contribute to host phenotypes that were previously
attributed to Wolbachia alone.
59
Are Wolbachia and microbiota linked to the genetic structure of
invasive and endemic populations of Aedes albopictus?
Claire Valiente Moro
University of Lyon 1, France; claire.valiente-moro@univ-lyon1.fr
Guillaume Minard
University of Lyon 1, France
Florence Helene Tran
Van Tran Van
Christophe Bellet
Entente Interdépartementale Rhône-Alpes pour la Démoustication, Chindrieux, France
Khanh Ly Huynh Kim
Institut Pasteur, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Trang Huynh Thi Thuy
Institut Pasteur, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Patrick Mavingui
Above and beyond their ecological impact, invasive mosquitoes are a source of worldwide
concern because of their utmost importance as vectors of a wide range of pathogens to
humans and animals. Originated from South-East Asia, Aedes albopictus is considered as one
of the most invasive species worldwide. As insect associated microbiota is recognized to play
a significant role in host biology, we hypothesized that bacterial microbiota could be parts of
the puzzle of understanding the driving forces of Ae. albopictus adaptation and subsequent
invasiveness. In this context, we performed a comparative analysis of genetic (11
microsatellite markers and COI haplotype) and bacterial diversity (metagenomics on V5-V6
region of the 16S rRNA gene) of field-caught mosquito populations from Vietnam (area of
origin) and France (recently colonized area). In whole mosquito body, bacterial microbiota
was largely dominated by Wolbachia pipientis (64 to 89% of the whole bacterial content)
with a conserved proportion of both wAlbA and wAlbB clades. However, analysis of gut
microbiota revealed a higher diversity, in terms of species richness and evenness that was
dominated by genera Dysgonomonas sp. and Chryseobacterium sp. Two important bacterial
correlation networks were identified revealing possible interactions between these groups.
The gut microbiota of French populations displayed a lower diversity in comparison to the
Vietnamese ones as well as a lower host genetic diversity estimated through allelic richness.
A new cryptic species living in sympatry with Ae. albopictus was identified in sylvatic
Vietnamese site. Interestingly, this species did not harbor Wolbachia but showed a bacterial
diversity similar to other ones. Our ecological genomics approach highlighted the presence of
a mosquito core microbiota regardless of the geographical origin of the populations or host
species and raises the question of its role in the mosquito biology and ecology.
60
Evolution of the interaction Culex pipiens / Wolbachia
Célestine Atyame
Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, Université Montpellier 2, France
Emilie Dumas
Anna-Sophie Fiston-Lavier
Arnaud Berthomieu
Patrick Makoundou
Olivier Duron
Mathieu Sicard
Mylène Weill
Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, Université Montpellier 2, France; mylene.weill@univ-montp2.fr
Almost all Culex pipiens mosquitoes are infected with wPip strains and this interaction
exhibits the greatest variation in cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) crossing types reported in
any insect. This diversity appears to be under the control of Wolbachia uniquely, since
neither the nuclear background nor other bacterial symbionts have been reported to
influence the outcome of the crossings.
After developing a specific MLST, we were able to distinguish five distinct wPip genetic
groups, which all share a monophyletic origin. An extensive worldwide screening of wPip
infections in 118 natural populations of the C. pipiens complex evidenced a clear geographic
structuration. Each population was found mostly monomorphic for the wPip infection group.
However, no clear association between Wolbachia and the taxons of the C. pipiens complex
was demonstrated, showing no implication of Wolbachia in their differentiation.
Additionally, we crossed many C. pipiens lines from different geographic origins, infected
with strains from distinct wPip groups. This large dataset showed that most crosses involving
wPip strains from the same genetic group were compatible. The only intragroup CI observed
were unidirectional, between C. pipiens from different geographic origins. These results
support the theoretical studies predicting that only compatible Wolbachia strains can stably
coexist in panmictic host populations.
Finally, we showed that compatible Wolbachia strains from the same wPip group, with
identical MLST genotypes, could display distinct CI patterns when crossed with genetically
distant lines. Their complete genomes were thus sequenced. A comparative genomic
approach revealed surprisingly high genome dynamics at such a small evolutionary scale,
essentially driven by repeated elements. These genomic analyses combined with our large
dataset of CI relationships in C. pipiens provide a unique opportunity to finally identify the
genes responsible for CI.
61
Functional genomics of beetle-microbe symbioses
Takema Fukatsu
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan; t-fukatsu@aist.go.jp
Beetles represent the most species-rich animal order Coleoptera, embracing over 400,000
described species in the world and accounting for almost 25% of all known animal forms.
The insects are generally armored with sclerotized elytra and exoskeleton, comprising a
considerable portion of the biodiversity in the terrestrial ecosystem, occupying important
ecological niches as herbivores, xylovores, fungivores or carnivores, and often regarded as
notorious agricultural, forestry or medical pests. Reflecting their diversity, microbial symbiotic
partners of the beetles are also diverse: some are bacteria while others are fungi; some are
stored in external pouches called mycangia, some are residing in the gut cavity, and others
are harbored in specialized cells called bacteriocytes; some are cultured by the host beetles
and utilized as food sources, some help digestion of woody materials, some provide
protection against natural enemies, and others synthesize essential nutrients. Here we
present our recent research progresses in the field of beetle-microbe symbiotic associations,
with special emphasis on their genomic and functional aspects.
62
Phylogenomics and analysis of shared genes suggest a single
origin of the main lineages of Wolbachia in nematodes
Francesco Comandatore
DiVET, University of Milan, Italy; francesco.comandatore@unimi.it
While in arthropods Wolbachia is often associated with distortion of host reproduction, in
filarial nematodes it appears to be essential for the survival of the host, and this symbiotic
relationship is considered mutualistic. Phylogenetic analyses highlighted that most of the
Wolbachia strains are symbionts of filarial nematodes belonging to the C and D supergroups.
The origin of this mutualistic endosymbiosis is of interest for both basic and applied reasons.
To understand how and when the symbiosis between Wolbachia and filarial nematodes
originated, a robustly rooted tree is required. The genetic distance between Wolbachia and
the nearest outgroups and the current limited number of Wolbachia genomes hamper this
objective. To address these issues, we sequenced the genome of the D supergroup
Wolbachia endosymbiont of Litomosoides sigmodontis, thus obtaining two genomes for each
of the C and D filarial Wolbachia supergroups.
All the high quality Wolbachia genomes available in database were retrieved (from A, B, C
and D supergroups). A gene database was generated selecting orthologues on the basis of
homology and annotation, and removing duplicated or possibly recombined or saturated
genes. For these selected genes, and for the respective amino acid sequences, the best
evolutionary models were found and then used in Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian
phylogenetic analyses, performed on both the nucleotide and amino acid partitioned
concatenates. The Wolbachia phylogenies obtained were congruent, and presented a highly
supported root between a (A + B) clade and a (C + D) clade. This analysis supports a
scenario wherein the symbiosis between Wolbachia and filarial nematodes originated from a
single transition event. This result leaves open many questions about the mechanism of this
transition. Comparative genomic analyses are currently being performed, with the goal of
trying to elucidate how this transition happened.
63
Link between genotype and phenotype in Wolbachia
Ewa Chrostek
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal; echrostek@igc.gulbenkian.pt
Luís Teixeira
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal
Symbiotic bacteria Wolbachia live within the cells of numerous insect species. Our work aims
at understanding the interaction of the endosymbionts of Drosophila melanogaster, wMel,
with their hosts. Although natural wMel variants are mutualistic, the laboratory variant
wMelPop proliferates massively in the hosts, causing degeneration of tissues which
culminates in insets early death. Sequencing and assembly of the genomes of wMelPop and
very closely related wMelCS allowed us to identify genetic differences between the two
variants. We demonstrate that the identified differences are responsible for the pathogenic
phenotype of wMelPop. Therefore we provide the first link between genes and phenotypes in
Wolbachia.
64
Impact of Wolbachia endosymbionts on the evolution of sex
determination in the isopod Armadillidium vulgare
Sébastien Leclercq
Julien Thézé
Isabelle Giraud
Lise Ernenwein
Bouziane Moumen
Pierre Grève
Clément Gilbert
Richard Cordaux
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; richard.cordaux@univ-poitiers.fr
In the isopod Armadillidium vulgare, genetic sex determination follows female heterogamety
(ZZ males and ZW females). However, many A. vulgare populations harbor maternallyinherited Wolbachia bacterial endosymbionts which can convert genetic males into
phenotypic females, leading to populations with female-biased sex ratios. The W sex
chromosome has been lost in lines infected by Wolbachia and all individuals are ZZ genetic
males. The female sex is determined by the inheritance of Wolbachia by the A. vulgare
individual, thereby leading to a shift from genetic to cytoplasmic sex determination.
Surprisingly, some A. vulgare lines exhibit female-biased sex ratios despite the lack of
Wolbachia. In these lines, female individuals are ZZ genetic males carrying an unknown
feminizing factor. To elucidate the genetic basis of female sex determination in these lines,
we sequenced the genome of a female by Illumina technology. After de novo genome
assembly, we identified a large piece of the Wolbachia genome transferred into the A.
vulgare nuclear genome. The transferred genomic fragment shows non-Mendelian
inheritance and co-segregates perfectly with the female sex in pedigrees, in agreement with
observed biased sex ratios. These results suggest that sex determination in these A. vulgare
lines is under the control of nuclear gene(s) of bacterial origin. Overall, our results indicate
that Wolbachia bacteria can drive shifts in sex determination mechanisms in A. vulgare. More
generally, they emphasize that bacterial endosymbionts can be powerful sources of
evolutionary novelty for fundamental biological processes in eukaryotes, such as sex
determination.
This research is funded by an ERC Starting Grant (EndoSexDet) to RC.
65
Toward the identification of feminizing genes of the bacterial
endosymbiont Wolbachia
Myriam Badawi
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; myriam.badawi@univ-poitiers.fr
Isabelle Giraud
Bouziane Moumen
Pierre Grève
Richard Cordaux
Symbiotic interactions are a major driver of evolution. The symbiont genotype is able to alter
the host phenotype, and the other way round: it is called "extended phenotype". In this
respect, Wolbachia endosymbiosis is remarkable. This intracellular bacterium is a well-known
reproductive parasite able to induce feminization of genetic males or cytoplasmic
incompatibility in its terrestrial isopod crustacean hosts. Currently, no molecular genetic basis
of these reproductive manipulations has been described. In order to identify genes involved
in feminization, we used a comparative genomics approach of two closely related strains of
Wolbachia: one inducing feminization of its host Armadillidium vulgare (wVulC) and the other
one inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility in Cylisticus convexus (wCon). The effect induced
by these strains is considered strain-specific as it is conserved when Wolbachia is crosstransfected to the other host. First, we sequenced the genome of wCon by 454
pyrosequencing. Genome assembly of wCon resulted in ~200 contigs for a total genome
length of ~2 Mb and ~2,000 predicted genes. Next, a home-made bioinformatics pipeline
comparing the genome of wCon with the previously sequenced genome of wVulC enabled us
to determine 326 candidate genes for feminization. Then, we investigated expression
patterns of these candidate genes during host sexual differentiation in order to pinpoint
genes involved in the manipulation of host sex determination.
This work is funded by an ERC grant (EndoSexDet) to RC, which aims to identify the genetic
factors implicated in the sex determination of A. vulgare, thereby contributing to evaluate
the evolutionary impact of endosymbionts on sex determination of their hosts.
66
10 June 2014
Afternoon symposia
67
Wolbachia’s Burgess Shale: ancient and modern integration in
the genome of Podisma pedestris (Orthoptera)
José L. Bella
Richard A. Nichols
SBCS, Queen Mary University of London, UK; r.a.nichols@qmul.ac.uk
Evidence is accumulating for lateral gene-transfer of Wolbachia into invertebrate host
genomes: Approximately one-third of sequenced invertebrate genomes contain Wolbachia
gene insertions, which range in size from short segments to nearly the entire Wolbachia
genome. NGS skimming (very low coverage sequencing) of the grasshopper Podisma
pedestris suggests massive repeated introgression – and a well persevered record of ancient
events. We use 454 amplicon sequencing of nuclear inserts to survey the same integrated
sequence from several wild populations.
Because Podisma has been a model species for hybrid-zone studies, its postglacial
colonisation of the French Alps has been worked out in detail. Making use of the known
timings for the isolation of different populations, we have begun to draw inferences about
the insertions, and the post-insertion fate of integrated sequences.
68
Identification of Wolbachia-responsive microRNAs in
the two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae
Xiao-Yue Hong
Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, China; xyhong@njau.edu.cn
Xia Rong
Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, China
Yan-Kai Zhang
Department of Entomology, Nanjing Agricultural University, China
The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is infected with Wolbachia, which
have the ability to manipulate host reproduction. T. urticae, like other organisms, produces
several microRNAs (miRNAs), which are a type of small RNA (sRNA) that have the ability to
regulate genes at the post-transcriptional level. To understand the role of miRNAs in the
response of T. urticae to Wolbachia infection, we constructed sRNA libraries of infected and
uninfected T. urticae for both sexes (four libraries). Illumina sequencing led to the
identification of 83 known miRNAs and 112 novel miRNAs in the four libraries. We identified
91 miRNAs that were differentially expressed between infected and uninfected females and
20 miRNAs that were differentially expressed between infected and uninfected males. The
four transcriptomes also provided information on protein-encoding genes that were
differentially expressed in response to Wolbachia infection. A comparison of the miRNA and
the mRNA data suggested that the miRNAs were regulating genes related to amino acid
metabolism, sphingolipid metabolism, lysosome function and apoptosis. The differential
expression of 14 miRNAs and one target gene were confirmed by qRT-PCR. These findings
not only help to understand Wolbachia-mediated host miRNA variations but also provide
molecular targets for further functional studies.
69
Sex-specific transcription of large proportion of genes in the
only cryptic WO prophage genome in a fig wasp species
Guan-Hong Wang
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; wangguanhong@ioz.ac.cn
Jin-Hua Xiao
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Da-Wei Huang
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Temperate bacteriophage WO is a model system for studying tripartite interactions among
viruses, bacteria, and eukaryotes, especially investigations of the genomic stability of
obligate intracellular bacteria. Few WO genomes exist because of the difficulty in isolating
viral DNA from eukaryotic hosts, and most reports are by-products of Wolbachia sequencing;
only one partial genome of a WO phage has been determined directly from isolated particles.
We successfully determined the complete genome sequence of prophage WO (WOSol) in
Wolbachia strain wSol, which is the only Wolbachia strain infecting the fig wasp Ceratosolen
solmsi (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea), by high-efficiency thermal asymmetric interlaced PCR.
We further used real-time qPCR to prove WOSol that is a cryptic prophage, which are simply
regarded as genetic remnants.
Only three open reading frames (ORFs) in cryptic WO prophages have previously been
reported to be actively transcribed. We comprehensively examined the transcription of the
only cryptic WOSol prophage in Wolbachia strain wSol by conventional reverse transcription
PCR and real-time qPCR. Our major findings were: i) a high percentage of ORFs are actively
transcribed (59%, 17/29); ii) the expression of these ORFs is highly sex-specific, with a
strong male bias (three in females, 15 in males); iii) an ank (ankyrin-domain-containing)
gene actively transcribed in both wasp sexes is more highly expressed in males. Our results
suggest that cryptic WO may play roles in Wolbachia biology, particularly through the males.
70
Spiroplasma infection induces male-specific DNA damage
response in Drosophila melanogaster
Toshiyuki Harumoto
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan; t-harumoto@aist.go.jp
Hisashi Anbutsu
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan
Takema Fukatsu
In Drosophila, two bacteria, Wolbachia and Spiroplasma are known as heritable symbionts.
These bacteria are remarkable in their ability to manipulate host reproduction like
cytoplasmic incompatibility and male-killing. Molecular mechanisms underlying these
symbiont-induced reproductive phenotypes are of great interest but remain poorly
understood. Interaction between Drosophila melanogaster and its native Spiroplasma
symbiont strain MSRO is one of the best model systems for exploring how the host's
molecular and cellular pathways are involved in the symbiont-induced male-killing. Previous
studies showed that Spiroplasma infection induces ectopic apoptosis and severe neural
defects only in male individuals during embryogenesis. In this study, we performed RNA-seq
analysis for further understanding the molecular mechanisms of these pathogenic
phenotypes. By analyzing differently expressed genes, we identified a group of genes
specifically up-regulated in Spiroplasma-infected male embryos. These genes include
regulators involved in apoptotic pathway and DNA damage response pathway. In this
presentation, we would like to show our detailed molecular genetic analyses on male-specific
DNA damage, and discuss the mechanistic insight into how Spiroplasma selectively kills male
embryos in Drosophila.
71
Wolbachia genome sequencing: phylogenomics, symbiosis-
related pan-genome and eukaryote-like proteins involved in
host-symbiont interactions
Sandrine Geniez
Bouziane Moumen
Sanjay Kumar
New England Biolabs Inc., Ipswich, USA
Didier Bouchon
Jeremy M. Foster
Barton E. Slatko
Pierre Grève
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; pierre.greve@univ-poitiers.fr
Wolbachia endosymbionts are widespread in arthropods and are considered reproductive
parasites, inducing a variety of phenotypes including cytoplasmic incompatibility,
parthenogenesis, feminization and male killing, which serve to promote their spread through
populations. In contrast, Wolbachia infecting filarial nematodes that cause human diseases,
including elephantiasis and river blindness, are obligate mutualists. These Wolbachia are
subjects of drug discovery initiatives, but purification methods for efficient sequencing of
these unculturable bacteria have proven difficult using a variety of techniques including
chemical gradients, PFG purification, library construction followed by gene walking, etc. To
examine the biology of symbiosis in worldwide natural populations, we have developed a
novel targeted-genome enrichment procedure that allows specific isolation of endosymbiotic
DNA from host mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. We assayed the robustness of this method
on phylogenetically distant Wolbachia strains demonstrating that this procedure can be used
to enrich target DNA from unculturable microbes over large evolutionary distances.
The combination of this approach with Next Generation Sequencing technologies (Illumina
HiSeq and MiSeq) allowed us to successfully sequence six new strains of Wolbachia that
induce either host feminization or cytoplasmic incompatibility in terrestrial isopods.
Comparative genomics were then performed using these newly sequenced genomes
together with 16 publically available genomes to establish a pan-genome of Wolbachia and
phylogenomics studies. We then investigated the composition of this pan-genome in order to
look at the insight of the basis of Wolbachia symbiosis. A conversed motif recognition
analysis using HMMER3 also allowed us to identify eukaryote-like proteins such as ankyrin
repeats containing proteins that are known to be involved in host-symbiont interactions,
including the virulence of the bacteria.
72
Abstracts of poster presentations
(in alphabetical order of the presenting author)
73
Quantitative analysis of proliferation and gene expression of
bacteriophages infecting male-killing and non-male-killing
spiroplasmas in Drosophila
Hisashi Anbutsu
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan; h-anbutsu@aist.go.jp
Naruo Nikoh
The Open University of Japan, Chiba, Japan
Kohjiro Tanaka
Toshiyuki Harumoto
Takema Fukatsu
Spiroplasmas are endosymbiotic bacteria infecting a variety of plants and arthropods. These
bacteria cause male-killing in Drosophila and are also known as SRO (sex ratio organisms). It
was reported that SRO Spiroplasmas are infected with short-tailed bacteriophages, but few
studies have been done on the SRO phages, mainly because the SRO spiroplasmas are
difficult to culture. In this study, we determined the whole genome sequences of SRO
phages infecting Spiroplasma strains MSRO (SRO from D. melanogaster), NSRO (SRO from
D. nebulosa) and NSRO-A (non-male-killing variant of NSRO), and then investigated the
density dynamics of SRO phages and the expression of phage genes. In general, density
dynamics of the three SRO phages in terms of the copy numbers of phage ORFs per host
EF1-alpha copy were similar except for a short period immediately after the emergence.
However, the density dynamics of three ORFs on NSRO-A phage showed different patterns
from the other phages. On the other hand, density dynamics of the SRO phages in terms of
phage ORF copies per spiroplasma dnaA copy were different among the Spiroplasma strains.
Upon adult emergence, densities of all the three SRO phages were similar at 10 - 20 copies
per Spiroplasma. After that, the densities of MSRO phage were almost constant throughout
the adult life. In contrast, the densities of NSRO and NSRO-A phages increased around
tenfold during the first week and then kept the same level. However, the densities of the
three ORFs mentioned above did not increase so much in NSRO-A infected files.
Interestingly, the expression levels of a gene encoded by one of the tree ORFs were about
ten times higher in adult flies infected with male-killing MSRO and NSRO than in those
infected with non-male-killing NSRO-A. These results represent the confusing and complex
nature of NSRO-A phage, which is different from the other two phages infecting male-killing
spiroplasmas and may related with the loss of pathogenicity.
74
Neutralization of a redundant gene involved in homologous
recombination caught in the act in Wolbachia endosymbionts
Myriam Badawi
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; myriam.badawi@univ-poitiers.fr
Isabelle Giraud
Fabrice Vavre
Pierre Grève
Richard Cordaux
As obligate intracellular bacteria, Wolbachia endosymbionts exhibit reduced genomes. This is
caused by the process of genomic reduction, occurring through large genomic deletions and
the accumulation of mutations. The latter process of genomic reduction involves successive
steps including gene neutralization, pseudogenization and gradual erosion until complete
loss. While many examples of pseudogenes at various levels of degradation have been
reported in endosymbiont genomes, neutralization cases are scarce because of the transient
nature of the process. Gene neutralization may occur due to relaxation of selection in nonessential genes, e.g. those involved in redundant functions. In endosymbiont genomes, the
homologous recombination (HR) pathway is commonly depleted, whereas it seems intact in
some (but not all) Wolbachia strains. The HR pathway is implicated in DNA repair and
generates genome plasticity. In order to evaluate the evolutionary importance of the HR
pathway for Wolbachia genomes, we analysed 13 major HR genes. They all have been
globally under strong purifying selection during the evolution of Wolbachia strains hosted by
arthropods. However, we uncovered the recent neutralization of the RuvA gene in a subset
of Wolbachia strains, which may be related to an ancestral, clade-specific amino acid change
that impaired DNA binding activity. Strikingly, RuvA is part of the RuvABC complex involved
in branch migration and resolution of Holliday junctions, a function which may be fulfilled by
the analagous RecG helicase. While RuvA is experiencing neutralization, RecG is under
strong purifying selection. Thus, our high phylogenetic resolution enabled us to characterize
a rare example of targeted neutralization of a gene involved in a redundant function in an
endosymbiont genome.
75
Exploring the influence of Wolbachia on Chorthippus parallelus
mating in a Pyrenean hybrid zone
Mar Pérez-Ruiz
Francisca Arroyo-Yebras
Gunter Koehler
Institut für Ökologie, Universität Jena, Germany
José L. Bella
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain; bella@uam.es
The Pyrenean hybrid zone between Chorthippus parallelus parallelus and the Iberian
endemite Chorthippus parallelus erythropus (Orthoptera) was originally described as a
"secondary contact zone", maintained by the balance between dispersion and the presumed
reduced fitness of the natural hybrids. This is supported by the close adherence to Haldane's
rule (whereby heterogametic males are sterile) of F1 laboratory hybrids of pure individuals of
the two subspecies, their mating behaviour and the homogamy detected in studies of
females' sperm preference.
However, recent biogeographical, molecular, cytogenetic and other findings suggest a need
to complement this view with data on the influence of Wolbachia on various aspects of the
biology of these organisms and their hybrid zone. These include cytoplasmic uni- and
bidirectional incompatibility, different patterns of infection by the bacterial endosymbiont in
distinct populations and areas inside and outside the hybrid zone, and the induction of a
higher proportion of abnormal spermatids in natural hybrids.
In a further experiment to evaluate the role of Wolbachia in the hybrid zone, we have
analysed the infection status of both members of copulating pairs of hybrid individuals
collected in the field. Here we discuss the results of a preliminary survey of 79 pairs of
hybrids using PCR with primers for Wolbachia's specific wsp gene, and analysed with the
Jmating, a program that examines mating frequency data to address sexual selection and
sexual isolation.
76
Incidence of Wolbachia sp., Spiroplasma sp. and other bacterial
endosymbionts in certain parthenogenetic and nonparthenogenetic species of phasmids (Phasmatodea)
Mar Pérez-Ruiz
Jesús Herranz
Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
José L. Bella
Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain; bella@uam.es
Phasmatodea reproductive biology is partially determined by poorly understood ecological
and genetic mechanisms. This order includes standard sexual species, but also many others
that display distinct types of parthenogenesis (tychoparthenogenesis, automixis, apomixis,
etc.), or both systems facultatively. In a preliminary survey we have analysed Wolbachia and
Spiroplasma infection in close to 250 individuals from around 25 species of stick-insects by
bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplification. Our objective was to determine whether some of the
bacterial endosymbionts involved in distinct reproductive alterations in other arthropods,
including parthenogenesis and male killing, are present in phasmids.
Our results demonstrate that there was no Wolbachia infection in any of the phasmid species
analysed, but confirm the presence of Spiroplasma in some sexual, mixed and asexual
species. Phylogenetic analysis identifies these bacterial strains as belonging to the Ixodetis
clade. Other bacteria genera were also detected. The possible role of these bacteria in
Phasmatodea biology is discussed.
77
The diversity of bacterial endosymbionts within bees
(Anthophila)
Michael Gerth
Molecular Evolution and Systematics of Animals, University of Leipzig, Germany
Christoph Bleidorn
Molecular Evolution and Systematics of Animals, University of Leipzig, Germany; bleidorn@uni-leipzig.de
Several evolutionary phenomena in arthropods were shown to be due to the presence of
inherited symbionts, e.g., sex-ratio-distortion, cytoplasmic incompatibility, conferring
resistance to pathogens, nutritional mutualism and others. All these phenomena may be
induced by Wolbachia, an alpha-proteobacterium that is estimated to occur in about two
thirds of all terrestrial arthropods. Other endosymbionts are comparatively understudied and
known only from a few model systems. Although Wolbachia is by far the most frequently
found endosymbiont in arthropods, detailed screenings for endosymbionts of lower-ranked
taxa are lacking. Furthermore, potential interactions of various endosymbionts within one
species are not well understood.
In the present study, we screened 307 individuals belonging to 170 bee (Anthophila) species
for the presence of the endosymbionts Wolbachia, Rickettsia, Spiroplasma, Cardinium and
Arsenophus. Because Wolbachia is present in about 66% of all bees, we tested if species
carrying this infection are more or less likely to carry other endosymbionts. Interestingly, we
found very different Wolbachia infection frequencies across bee families. Furthermore, we
find that ecological and phylogenetic host background determines endosymbiont
communities in bees.
78
Detection of Wolbachia driven reduction of mitochondrial
diversity using RADseq
Marie Cariou
Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Lab, University of Lyon 1, France; marie.cariou@univ-lyon1.fr
Laurent Duret
Sylvain Charlat
Maternally inherited intracellular symbionts can spread within populations and accross closely
related species following hybridization events. Because of co-transmission with other
cytoplasmic elements, this spread can induce indirect selection on mitochondrial genomes,
driving selective sweeps on mitochondria or favoring mitochondrial introgression. Using a
large sample of Arthropods from French Polynesia, we aim at estimating the frequency of
this phenomenon and the contribution of Wolbachia. Selection on mitochondrial genomes
can be detected through discordances between nuclear and mitochondrial coalescence times.
Mitochondrial data have previously been obtained; we envisage to use RADseq to estimate
nuclear diversity within and between specimens.
Estimation of genetic diversity using RADseq data can be hindered by several problems.
First, polymorphism on restriction sites may lead to a biased sampling of markers toward
shorter coalescent times and to an over-estimation of monomorphic loci in diploïd specimens,
both processes inducing an underestimation of genetic diversity. Second, the incomplete
sampling of alleles in diploid specimens, when the coverage is limiting, may also induce an
over-estimation of monomorphic loci and accentuate the under-estimation of polymorphism.
Here we present an ABC approach to overcome these biases by estimating jointly population
parameters and parameters associated with the RADseq experiment. Large sets of
sequences are simulated under different population models and RADseq data are derived
from these sequences with different coverage parameters. Summary statistics are calculated
on each simulated data set corresponding to each parameter set. Then, parameters that
would best explain the observed summary statistics are estimated. This ABC approach should
allow us to estimate nuclear coalescence time between specimens and thus to detect
significantly reduced mitochondrial coalescence times, potentially driven by Wolbachia.
79
Wolbachia shaping symbiotic communities? Insights from the
terrestrial isopod microbiome
Jessica Dittmer
Laboratoire Ecologie et Biologie des Interactions, Université de Poitiers, France; jessica.dittmer@univ-poitiers.fr
Jérôme Lesobre
Didier Bouchon
Terrestrial isopods represent an excellent model system for multipartite animal-bacteria
symbioses due to their well-characterized association with the endosymbiotic reproductive
parasite Wolbachia. To date, three different feminizing Wolbachia strains have been
identified in Armadillidium vulgare, presumably representing different co-evolutionary
histories with their common host. However, the microbiome of terrestrial isopods has never
been analysed on a large scale and the role of Wolbachia within the bacterial community
remains unknown. In order to fill this gap, quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA gene amplicon
pyrosequencing were combined to characterize the microbiota of A. vulgare on multiple
levels: (i) In field vs. lab populations, (ii) in different host tissues, and (iii) depending on
Wolbachia infection status, i.e. presence/absence of Wolbachia as well as infection with
different Wolbachia strains. This integrative approach allowed us to identify the major factors
shaping the microbiota associated with A. vulgare. Wolbachia infection was an important
factor influencing bacterial community structure. Furthermore, Wolbachia represented the
predominant member of the bacterial community in infected individuals. These findings
indicate that Wolbachia plays an important role within the terrestrial isopod microbiome.
However, Wolbachia was not the only major player: Candidatus Hepatoplasma
crinochetorum, a facultative symbiont previously reported from the midgut caeca, was for
the first time observed to be highly abundant in all tested host tissues. The potential
interactions of Wolbachia and Ca. H. crinochetorum constitute an interesting example for
symbiont-symbiont relationships between two highly abundant members of a diverse
bacterial community.
80
Stable Wolbachia infection rate in the parasitoid wasp
Hyposoter horticola
Anne Duplouy
Metapopulation Research Group, University of Helsinki, Finland; anne.duplouy@helsinki.fi
Christelle Couchoux
Metapopulation Research Group, University of Helsinki, Finland
Ilkka Hanski
Metapopulation Research Group, University of Helsinki, Finland
Saskya van Nouhuys
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
Despite a recent growing interest for the study of Wolbachia and its consequences on insect
populations, our understanding of its persistence in structured and complex natural systems
remains poor. We identified a new Wolbachia infection, strain called wHho, present at a low
and stable rate in Hyposoter horticola the parasitoid wasp of the Glanville fritillary butterfly,
Melitaea cinxia. Within the last two decades, the Glanville fritillary butterfly has become a
model organism for the study of metapopulation. On the Åland archipelago between Finland
and Sweden, the butterfly and its parasitoid wasp follow a similar population dynamic, with
yearly local population turnover. After describing the new bacterial strain present in the wasp
species, we investigated its effects on several life-history traits of its host in order to try and
explain its stable persistence at a low prevalence in the Åland metapopulation system.
81
Evolutionary origin of insect-Wolbachia nutritional mutualism
Naruo Nikoh
The Open University of Japan, Chiba, Japan
Takahiro Hosokawa
Minoru Moriyama
Kenshiro Oshima
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Masahira Hattori
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Takema Fukatsu
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan; t-fukatsu@aist.go.jp
Obligate insect-bacterium nutritional mutualism is among the most sophisticated forms of
symbiosis wherein the host and the symbiont are integrated into a coherent biological entity
and unable to survive without the partnership. Originally, however, such obligate symbiotic
bacteria must have been derived from free-living bacteria. How highly specialized obligate
mutualisms have arisen from less specialized associations is of interest. Here we address this
evolutionary issue by focusing on an exceptional insect-Wolbachia nutritional mutualism.
While Wolbachia endosymbionts are ubiquitously found in diverse insects and generally
regarded as facultative / parasitic associates for their insect hosts, a Wolbachia strain
associated with the bedbug Cimex lectularius, designated as wCle, was shown to be essential
for host's growth and reproduction via provisioning of B vitamins. We determined the
1,250,060 bp genome of wCle, which was generally similar to the genomes of insectassociated facultative Wolbachia strains, except for the presence of an operon encoding the
complete biotin synthetic pathway that was acquired via lateral gene transfer presumably
from a co-infecting endosymbiotic Cardinium or Rickettsia. Nutritional and physiological
experiments, in which wCle-infected and wCle-cured bedbugs of the same genetic
background were fed on B vitamins-manipulated blood meals via an artificial feeding system,
demonstrated that wCle certainly synthesizes biotin and the wCle-provisioned biotin
significantly contributes to the host fitness. These findings strongly suggest that acquisition
of a single gene cluster consisting of biotin synthesis genes underlies the bedbug-Wolbachia
nutritional mutualism, uncovering an evolutionary transition from facultative symbiosis to
obligate mutualism facilitated by lateral gene transfer in an endosymbiont lineage.
82
Cytological mechanism of Cardinium-induced cytoplasmic
incompatibility in Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera:
Aphelinidae): preliminary results
Marco Gebiola
Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; marco.gebiola@gmail.com
Suzanne E. Kelly
Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
Massimo Giorgini
Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Portici, Italy
Martha S. Hunter
Department of Entomology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) between closely related populations occurs frequently in
arthropods as a consequence of infections by Wolbachia and Cardinium endosymbionts. CI
causes sterility in matings between infected males and uninfected or differently-infected
females. CI-bacteria infect a large number of arthropods and strongly influence the ecology
and evolution of their hosts. CI may also affect the invasiveness of alien genotypes and the
effectiveness of biocontrol agents. Cytological analyses of Wolbachia CI crosses in Drosophila
and Nasonia have provided insights into the mechanism of CI. These studies have shown
that incompatible embryos die in the first mitotic division of the zygote, and implicate
paternal chromatin remodeling and asynchrony of male and female pronuclei entering the
first mitotic division. The delay leads to abnormal division or the exclusion of male
chromatids. So far, nothing is known about the sequence of events in the embryogenesis of
incompatible CI Cardinium crosses.
We conducted a cytological analysis of reproductive incompatibility caused by CI Cardinium
in Encarsia pergandiella. We set up incompatible and control matings, dissected eggs from
whitefly hosts, and fixed and stained eggs with DAPI during early embryogenesis. DAPIstained eggs were imaged with a confocal microscope. We also attempted live-staining with
the nucleic acid stain Syto-11 to allow for visualization of embryogenesis in real time. This
technique involves dissection in buffer followed by a short incubation before imaging with a
deconvolution microscope.
We observed the formation of chromatin bridges after the first mitotic division of the zygote,
which is a common feature of Wolbachia-induced CI. Our preliminary results suggest a
common mechanism of CI induced by the two bacterial lineages. Identifying parallels
between CI caused by Wolbachia and Cardinium will shed light on fundamental mechanisms
that underlie this reproductive incompatibility.
83
Bacterial endosymbionts may induce female-biased sex ratio in
the invasive mitochondrial type Q2 of Bemisia tabaci
Massimo Giorgini
Istituto per la Protezione delle Piante, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Portici, Italy; giorgini@ipp.cnr.it
Anna Giulia Nappo
Giuseppe Parrella
The whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) is a complex of cryptic species some of which,
namely the Mediterranean (MED) and the Middle East-Asia Minor 1 (MEAM1), are highly
invasive, and injurious crop pests worldwide, and able to displace local genotypes.
Invasiveness of B. tabaci may correlate with the phenotype of inherited bacterial
endosymbionts. In a greenhouse crop area of South Italy Q1 and Q2 mitochondrial types of
MED, currently the only species found in this area, coexist in the field. Here, the introduction
of Q2 (eastern Mediterranean origin) has been very recent and in few years (less than five
years) Q2 largely outnumbered Q1 (the indigenous mitotype of western Mediterranean
origin). Now 70% of individuals in the field are Q2. Each mitochondrial type is characterized
by a specific endosymbiont composition. Hamiltonella and Rickettsia are at near fixation in
Q1 and Q2 respectively; Arsenophonus, Cardinium and Wolbachia infect both types although
at different frequencies. Contrarily to Q1, with an even sex ratio, Q2 shows a significant
female-biased sex ratio. Although different agro-ecological conditions may have favored the
invasion of Q2 in South Italy, the female-biased sex ratio may strongly affect the invasion
biology of this mitotype. Endosymbionts (i.e. Rickettsia) may have a role in Q2 invasiveness
acting as sex-ratio manipulators.
84
Can Wolbachia destabilize the population dynamics of their
hosts? – A mathematical analysis
Florian Grziwotz
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany; f_grzi01@wwu.de
Arndt Telschow
Understanding the population dynamics of an arthropod species is key to design biological
programs that aim to either conserving an endangered species (e.g., butterflies like the
Oregon silverspot) or to controlling pests and disease vectors (e.g., mosquitoes of the genus
Aedes). An important aspect is the stability of the system. For example, destabilized
dynamics are typically associated with increased booms and busts of the population size,
which could lead (1) to an increased extinction risk of endangered populations, or (2) to
unpredictable and severe outbreaks of insect pests. Wolbachia is well known for naturally
infecting new host species, and also some biological control programs involve artificial
infections with Wolbachia. It is therefore an important question to what extend Wolbachia
influences the population dynamics of their host. Here, we extended classical models for
insect population dynamics (e.g., Dye model, Ricker model) by incorporating process noise
and Wolbachia. Each model parameter was tested for its effect on the non-linearity of the
dynamics. We found that the non-linear signature is most sensitive to parameters of density
dependent regulation. Interestingly, larger variance of the parameters is more likely to
destabilize the dynamics, but not their absolute values. These findings suggest that
Wolbachia-strains, which affect intra-host dynamics, are most likely to destabilize host
population dynamics. The results are discussed with respect to the Asian tiger mosquito
Aedes albopictus, for which Wolbachia was shown to affect larval competition.
85
Habitat-specific fitness dynamics among Wolbachia clades in
Drosophila melanogaster
Paul Herrera
Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Austria; paulherrera88@gmail.com
A natural Drosophila melanogaster population infected with multiple Wolbachia clades was
allowed to evolve in two different laboratory environments (hot and cold). Pronounced
habitat-specific evolutionary dynamics were observed for the different Wolbachia clades: the
infection spread to fixation in both temperature regimes. One Wolbachia clade increased
more than 50% in frequency within 15 generations of evolution in the cold environment
(10°C / 20°C daily cycles), while the other two clades decreased in frequency. In contrast,
the composition of the Wolbachia population remained stable over 37 generations in the hot
environment (18°C / 28°C daily cycles). This population of D. melanogaster has continued
evolving in the two environments and I will report results from more advanced generations.
The causative factor(s) behind these habitat-specific patterns remain to be elucidated,
however. Wolbachia is known to increase host fitness through protection against viral
infection, improved metabolic processes or by increasing the fertility of the host. The
observed patterns may also be a result of cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) or fecundity
differences among the different clades. To test this hypothesis, crosses between individuals
carrying different Wolbachia clades are being performed among flies from both
environments, allowing the direct quantification of CI. I will discuss the CI values obtained
from the various crosses carried out.
86
Host phenotype-associated Wolbachia infection polymorphism
in Vollenhovia emeryi (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae)
Pureum Noh
Soyeon Park
Jae Chun Choe
Gilsang Jeong
Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea; ecodever@gmail.com
The ant species, Vollenhovia emeryi Wheeler (Hymenoptera: Myrmicinae), is polymorphic in
wing morphology of the queen caste; long-winged queen and short-winged queen. Recent
studies show that they are clonally reproduced regardless of the wing morphology.
Consequently, this study was conducted to investigate the Wolbachia infection status of the
ant that might potentially be involved in its bizarre reproduction in the ant.
Either individuals or colonies of V. emeryi were collected during 2010 - 2013 from 80
locations, encompassing 68 locations in South Korea, 11 in Japan, and one in USA. All of the
long-winged morphs were invariably infected with Wolbachia. On the other hand, all of the
short-winged morphs were devoid of Wolbachia collected in South Korea. However, the
Japanese short-winged morphs were geographically partially infected. Therefore we
tentatively concluded that Wolbachia has no role in the host's clonal reproduction.
Nevertheless, this may be the first case of the Wolbachia infection status linked to host
phenotype. The phylogenetic analysis reveals that the short-winged is derived from the longwinged. This suggests the possibility of linkage between the short-wing trait and the
evolution of resistance to Wolbachia infection in the short-winged.
87
High Content Imaging: more than a pretty picture
Kelly L. Johnston
Department of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; johnkel@liverpool.ac.uk
Rachel Clare
Department of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
Darren A. Cook
Andrew Cassidy
Vera T. Unwin
Louise Ford
Stephen A. Ward
Mark J. Taylor
The A•WOL consortium aims to find a novel macrofilaricidal drug to treat the debilitating
diseases lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis, through targeting the Wolbachia bacteria
that reside within these parasitic nematodes. Typically, screening chemical libraries directly
against parasitic nematodes is cumbersome, low throughput and relies on animal reservoirs.
By focusing on the endosymbiont, we have been able to utilise an insect cell-based screening
approach that originally relied upon a quantitative polymerase chain reaction readout, but
now employs a High Content Imaging readout running on the Perkin Elmer Operetta®
platform. This assay uses texture analysis of cells stained with SYTO®11 (fluorescent DNA
stain) as a direct measure of bacterial load and allows the consortium to screen up to 10×
384 well plates per day; a radical increase in throughput from the qPCR screen. Further to its
use as a screening tool, the Operetta® is also being used for more fundamental biological
investigations including experiments surrounding the infection dynamics within host cells as
well as the development of a filarial nematode cell line as part of a Grand Challenges
Explorations grant funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The nature of the AntiWolbachia screening approach will be presented in addition to preliminary data from other
High Content Imaging investigations surrounding Wolbachia and host cells.
88
Wolbachia strain wAlbB confers both fitness cost and benefit to
Anopheles stephensi
Deepak Joshi
djoshi@msu.edu
Mike Mcfadden
David Bevins
Fengrui Zhang
Zhiyong Xi
Wolbachia is a maternally transmitted intracellular bacterium that infects up to 65% of insect
species. However, it is not naturally present in Anopheles malaria vectors. This provides an
opportunity to develop Wolbachia-based strategies for disease control either through
population replacement to reduce vector capacity or through population suppression to
reduce mosquito population. We previously generated Anopheles stephensi carrying a stable
wAlbB Wolbachia infection, and demonstrated its ability to invade into the wild type
laboratory populations and confer mosquitoes resistant to Plasmodium. The result of the
undergoing fitness experiment revealed that infection of wAlbB caused a reduction in female
fecundity and had a minor negative impact on male mating competiveness. We also
observed that wAlbB increased the life span of both male and female mosquitoes when they
were maintained solely on sugar meals; however, there was no impact on the life span of
blood-fed females. In addition, wAlbB did not influence immature development and
survivorship, and adult body sizes. Additional experiments were conducted to study the
interactions of wAlbB causing low egg hatch with the blood sources, food nutrition and
oxidative stress. We discuss these findings in possible deployment of Wolbachia-based
strategies for malaria vector control.
89
Molecular mechanism of Wolbachia-induced feminization in
Lepidoptera
Daisuke Kageyama
National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan; kagymad@affrc.go.jp
Sexual differentiation in the silkworm Bombyx mori is controlled by sex-specific splicing of
doublesex (dsx). In B. mori, the sex-specific splicing of dsx is influenced by the insulin-like
growth factor II mRNA-binding protein (Imp). Wolbachia-induced feminization is known in
the butterfly Eurema mandarina. In E. mandarina, naturally-occurring double infection of
distinct Wolbachia strains (wCI and wFem) is associated with feminization, while naturallyoccurring single infection (wCI) is not. Female-specific splicing of dsx manifected in
feminized E. mandarina can partially be reverted to male-specific splicing by treating the
larvae with tetracycline, suggesting that the target of wFem is located in the upstream of
dsx. When wCI and wFem were transferred together into cell culture derived from male
embryos of B. mori, both Imp and dsx showed female-like pattern. On the other hand, wCI
alone did not affect the expression of both Imp and dsx. These results may suggest that the
wFem has a feminizing effect on B. mori cells. To gain more insight into the molecular
mechanism of Wolbachia-induced feminization, transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) was
performed on uninfected cell lines derived from female B. mori and uninfected, single (wCI)
infected and double (wCI and wFem) infected cell lines derived from male B. mori. Nearly
46,000 mRNAs were surveyed for candidate genes involved in sex determination /
differentiation, Wolbachia-induced feminization, and / or Wolbachia infection /
endosymbiosis.
90
Evidence for horizontal Wolbachia transmission within Eurema
butterflies
Peter Kern
Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, Australia; p.kern@uws.edu.au
Darrell Kemp
Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia
James M. Cook
Markus Riegler
Individuals of Japanese Eurema hecabe and Eurema mandarina (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) carry
either a single Wolbachia infection (wCI) or a double infection of wCI and wFem. wCI causes
cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), while wFem has been reported to feminise genetic males
into functional females. These two Wolbachia strains have distinct wsp and MLST gene
sequences and both strains occur in both Eurema species. This is probably due to Wolbachia
introgression through hybridisation, because infected individuals in the different host species
share mitochondrial haplotypes. While E. mandarina is restricted to temperate regions of
eastern Asia, E. hecabe is widely distributed in Africa, Asia and Australia. In Australia, it
occurs in the tropical and subtropical coastal regions of Queensland and New South Wales,
and the tropical top end of the Northern Territory. Besides E. hecabe, Australia is home to
six other Eurema species, which vary in their geographic ranges, life histories and host plant
choice.
We sampled and screened populations of six Australian Eurema species (including E. hecabe)
for Wolbachia. We found Wolbachia in five of the species species, although at different
prevalences. The MLST profile was identical to the wCI strain in four of the species, and we
found a new MLST strain in a fifth species. However, we did not find wFem. We then COIbarcoded infected individuals and did not find any evidence of shared mitochondrial
haplotypes between species, suggesting that the shared Wolbachia strain has not spread
through hybridisation across Australian Eurema species. Clear differentiation at mitochondrial
and nuclear loci of individuals from different species infected with the same Wolbachia strain
also argues against Wolbachia-host co-divergence. We conclude that horizontal transmission
by an as yet unknown route has played a key role in the evolution of Wolbachia-host
associations in this group of butterflies.
91
Supergroup J: the less-known supergroup in filarial nematode
Emilie Lefoulon
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; elefoulon@mnhn.fr
Jerome Bourret
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Ricardo Guerrero
Laboratorio de Biologia de Vectores y Parásitos, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela
Jorge Cárdenas
Asociación Peruana de Helmintologia e Invertebrados Afines, Lima, Peru
Kerstin Junker
ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Onderstepoort, South Africa
Coralie Martin
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Wolbachia are vertically transmitted intracellular bacteria which exhibit a broad host
spectrum, including numerous families of arthropods and only one family of nematodes, the
Onchocercidae filariae, including species that cause human filarial diseases, e.g. lymphatic
filariasis and onchocerciasis. The different Wolbachia lineages have been classified in
supergroups which show an asymmetric distribution within the large host range: supergroup
A, B, E, H, I and K are commonly found in arthropods; supergroups C, D and J are limited to
filariae. Only the supergroup F encompasses arthropod and filarial hosts. The present study
focused on the poorly studied supergroup J. This supergroup has been defined on only the
lineage found in the filarial nematode Dipetalonema gracile. New samples of Onchocercidae
species were analyzed using PCR and immunohistochemical staining to detect Wolbachia and
describe its strains. Here, the supergroup J Wolbachia was newly identified in two filaria
species isolated from capybaras (Caviidae), e.g. Yatesia hydrochoerus and Cruorifilaria
tuberocauda, and in four Dipetalonema species from monkeys, all originated from South
America. In the adult filariae, Wolbachia infect the female germline and the hypodermis, with
a various density in the different Dipetalonema species. The phylogenetic analyses confirmed
the monophyly of the clade composed of Wolbachia from Dipetalonema, Yatesia and
Cuorifilaria genera. The supergroup J was positioned as a sister taxon of supergroup C.
Finally, this study pinpoints a specific geographic area for the supergroup J.
92
Developing and characterizing Aedes albopictus with triple
Wolbachia infections for disease control
Xiao Liang
liangxiao0611@gmail.com
Guowu Bian
Deepak Joshi
David Bevins
Zhiyong Xi
Aedes albopictus is a competent vector for at least 22 arboviruses, notably dengue and
Chikungunya virus. The dramatic global expansion of Ae. albopictus, displacing Ae. aegypti in
some areas, has led to increased public health concern that this mosquito would lead to
serious outbreaks of arbovirus diseases. This is supported by the observation that Ae.
albopictus is the primary cause of dengue epidemics in a number of areas including China.
The ability of Wolbachia to both block virus transmission and spread into mosquito
populations has led to an international effort to develop Wolbachia-based population
replacement to eliminate dengue, with successful demonstrations of its potential for areawide implementation. Different to Ae. aegypti, Ae. albopictus is naturally carrying two strains
of Wolbachia, wAlbA and wAlbB. In order to utilize the unidirectional cytoplasmic
incompatibility (CI) to spread of Wolbachia into the population, we introduced the third strain
wMel into Ae. albopictus, resulting in a stably infected HM line carrying triple Wolbachia
infections. The HM line is able to maintain wMel at a 100% maternal transmission rate. Cross
experiments are conducted to determine the CI pattern between HM, the wild type, and
tetracycline treated aposymbiotic lines. We also examined a potential competition among the
three strains of Wolbachia by comparing their density in different tissues of HM and the wild
type mosquito. We will discuss the above results in relation to the HM vector competence for
dengue virus and its potential for use in Wolbachia-based vector control strategies.
93
A fast multiplex PCR test for three important insect
endosymbionts
Bernd Linke
Molecular Ecology Group, University of Innsbruck, Austria; bernd.linke@student.uibk.ac.at
Florian M. Steiner
Molecular Ecology Group, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Birgit C. Schlick-Steiner
Wolfgang Arthofer
The need to test for Wolbachia infections whenever mitochondrial diversity or sex bias in
insect populations is assessed is broadly accepted today. In contrast, the contribution of
other strictly endosymbiotic, sexual-parasitic proteobacteria to the current mitochondrial
landscape of Hexapoda remains heavily understudied. This situation is, to a large part,
caused by a lack of routine testing. Here, we present a simple one-tube test for the presence
of Wolbachia, Cardinium, and Spiroplasma, the three most prominent bacteria causing sexual
alterations in insects. The test is based on a multiplex PCR targeting the IS5 repeat region of
Wolbachia and specific 16S regions of Cardinium and Spiroplasma, followed by a High
Resolution Melting Analysis. The presence of any of the three endosymbionts will be
indicated by a specific peak in the first derivative of the amplicon's melting curve. The test
will provide results within two hours, without need of gel electrophoresis or any other postPCR wetlab step. So far, we have assessed this test system with plasmids derived from host
model organisms. A variety of field samples will be used in a next step to verify and finetune the test's diagnostic performance.
94
Investigation of the putative SAM transporter in the REIS Island
of wMel
Eric D. LoVullo
Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, USA;
eric.lovullo@ars.usda.gov
Richard B. Furlong
Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, USA
Paul D. Shirk
S-adenosylmethione (SAM) is essential for methylation in all cells. The accepted paradigm for
the methylation cycle is that SAM is first produced by S-adenosylmethionine synthetase,
which is encoded by metK. Subsequently, the cell utilizes an S-adenosylhomocysteinase,
encoded by sahH, to detoxify the S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) that is produced after the
transfer of the methyl group from SAM to the methylation substrate. However, some obligate
intracellular bacteria have lost metK and sahH. These bacteria have replaced these functions
with a SAM transporter that imports SAM as it exports the methylation inhibitor SAH.
The wMel genome contains a genetic island that is bounded on both ends by WoMelB
prophage sequences. This island encodes for ten ORFs including a putative SAM transporter
(WD0621) which appear to have been laterally transferred from a Rickettsia Endosymbiont of
Ixodes scapularis (REIS) like organism. Structurally, SAM transporters share several
conserved motifs including an EamA domain, a RhaT domain, and ten transmembrane
domains. In silico analysis suggests that WD0621 fulfills all these requirements as well as
having strong homology to the SAM transporter of Rickettsia prowazekii strain Madrid E.
(RP076). The wMel genome also encodes a metK (WD0136), however no putative sahH has
been identified.
Using a ∆metK conditionally lethal strain of E. coli we analyze the function of WD0621 and
determine whether the wMel metK can complement this deletion. We also assess the levels
of transcript in wMel for WD0621 and metK.
We finally discuss the implications of SAM transport for an intracellular bacterium, and
whether a Wolbachia that contains the REIS island has a selective advantage, due to the
export of the methylation inhibitor SAH over Wolbachia strains that do not contain a SAM
transporter.
95
Low-input transcriptomics of Wolbachia and their filarial
nematode hosts
Ashley N. Luck
New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, USA; luck@neb.com
Jeremy M. Foster
New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, USA
Barton E. Slatko
New England Biolabs, Inc., Ipswich, USA
Wolbachia is present in most human parasitic filarial nematodes, where it is an obligate
endosymbiotic bacterium. In Brugia malayi (a filarial nematode responsible for human
lymphatic filariasis, a debilitating disease affecting nearly 100 million people worldwide)
depletion of Wolbachia through tetracycline antibiotic treatment leads to decreased fertility
and eventual death in adult worms. A better understanding of how Wolbachia contributes to
overall nematode fitness is necessary for the development of enhanced drug targeting of
filarial nematodes and their Wolbachia. The advent of RNA-Seq has provided a method to
investigate this complicated symbiosis. Numerous studies have examined the transcriptomics
of filarial nematodes in response to Wolbachia depletion however; few have specifically
examined changes in gene expression of the bacterial endosymbiont. The preparation of
RNA-seq samples using the NEBNext® Ultra RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina® (New England
BioLabs, Inc.) has enabled the use of very low input amounts of total RNA extracted from
filarial nematodes to examine gene expression profiles of filarial worms and Wolbachia
simultaneously. Using this technology, we have been able to identify a number of wBm
(Wolbachia from Brugia malayi) genes that are differentially expressed in response to the
critical metabolite, heme. As heme biosynthesis occurs in the symbiont but not in the
nematode, these heme-responsive genes in both Wolbachia and Brugia malayi may be
critical for the symbiotic relationship and thus a target for drug discovery.
96
Genetic basis of Cardinium-caused cytoplasmic incompatibility
Evelyne Mann
Institute for Milk Hygiene, Milk Technology and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria;
evelyne.mann@vetmeduni.ac.at
Corinne M. Stouthamer
Suzanne E. Kelly
Martha S. Hunter
Stephan Schmitz-Esser
Institute for Milk Hygiene, Milk Technology and Food Science, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
Endosymbionts that infect arthropods and cause cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) manipulate
the reproduction of their hosts through "modification" of sperm and "rescue" of affected
sperm in symbiont-infected eggs. The recently published genome of Cardinium hertigii
provided first perspectives on potential CI-candidate genes. In this planned project, i.)
additional genomes of Cardinium strains from Encarsia spp. causing different phenotypes
(parthenogenesis, CI and one asymptomatic), will be sequenced. ii.) genes involved in host
interactions and CI will be identified, iii.) differences in gene expression of Cardinium in male
and female wasps will be examined. For i.), genome comparisons of Cardinium strains
causing different phenotypes will greatly aid in the identification of CI candidate genes. For
ii.) and iii.), an RNA extraction protocol yielding sufficient amounts of Cardinium RNA was
established. RNA will be isolated from 1 - 3 day old male and female parasitoid wasps
(Encarsia pergandiella). A symbiont-host RNASeq protocol already established for the
amoeba symbiont Amoebophilus asiaticus, the closest relative of Cardinium, will be used.
The metatranscriptome of Cardinium and Encarsia pergandiella will be analyzed, focusing on
the expression of potential candidate proteins for CI and eukaryotic cell cycle regulation (e.g.
ankyrin repeats, the putative antifeeding prophage secretion system or interference with the
host ubiquitin system). We expect that the identification of sex-specific expression of CIcandidate genes and the comparison of Cardinium genomes causing different phenotypes
will reveal the first insights into the reproductive manipulation of these elusive
endosymbionts.
97
Widespread presence of Wolbachia in an Alpine population of
the viviparous leaf beetle Oreina cacaliae (Coleoptera:
Chrysomelidae)
Elena Martin
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy;
elena.martin@unimi.it
Alessandra Cafiso
Dipartimento di Scienze Veterinarie e Sanità Pubblica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Valeria Mereghetti
Bessem Chouaia
Dipartimento di Scienze per gli Alimenti, la Nutrizione e l'Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Chiara Bazzocchi
Claudio Bandi
Sara Epis
Matteo Montagna
Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Oreina cacaliae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is a rare example of viviparous insect, able to
feed on toxic plants and sequester toxic compounds. Here we present the results of a study
on the microbiota associated with O. cacaliae, based on 16S rRNA bacterial gene sequencing.
Wolbachia resulted as the dominant bacterium, both in males (100%) and in females
(91.9%). Based on multilocus sequence typing, the detected Wolbachia was described as a
new sequence type (Wolbachia Ocac_A_wVdO). Phylogenetic analyses assigned Wolbachia
Ocac_A_wVdO to supergroup-A. In situ hybridization and electron microscopy confirmed the
presence of Wolbachia within O. cacaliae oocytes, indicating its transovarial transmission.
PCR specific for Wolbachia was performed on representatives of six species of Oreina; the
presence / absence of Wolbachia was then mapped on a cladogram representing the
phylogeny of the insect host. Finally, since viviparous species of Oreina were either infected
or non-infected by Wolbachia, we cannot derive any conclusion about the possibility that this
symbiont played some role in the evolution of viviparity.
98
Oxidative homeostasis and the evolution of insect / Wolbachia
symbioses
David Monnin
Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Lab, University of Lyon 1, France; david.monnin@univ-lyon1.fr
Clément Berny
Natacha Kremer
Emmanuel Desouhant
Fabrice Vavre
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a crucial role in insect immune defence. They also
contribute to oxidative stress, a state that can lead to severe damages to cell components.
Because of such antagonist effects, the oxidative homeostasis has been recently recognized
as a key factor underlying trade-offs between life-history traits. Since the immune processes
of insects can be triggered against any type of microorganism, a disturbance of oxidative
homeostasis is expected to occur following the establishment of a symbiosis. In cases where
the symbiont is highly prevalent, this disturbance is likely to constrain the host's life-history
and could drive its adaptation to the symbionts (tolerance). An interaction between oxidative
stress and symbiosis has been shown in associations involving Wolbachia. As a dramatic
example, the dependence of Asobara tabida (Hymenoptera) to Wolbachia for oogenesis may
be due to a breakdown of oxidative homeostasis resulting from tolerance evolution. This
scenario implies both that the infection is costly for the host, and that a modulation of
oxidative homeostasis can lessen this cost. We addressed these questions using Drosophila
melanogaster, where Wolbachia infection is facultative, as a model. In order to assess the
phenotypic effects of the infections, we measured the life-history traits of three strains of D.
melanogaster differing only by their infection status: uninfected or infected by either wMel or
wMelPop. Experimental manipulations of the oxidative environment differentially affect the
life-history traits of the different strains, suggesting that the phenotypic effects of Wolbachia
can be altered by a modulation of oxidative homeostasis. Wolbachia density measurements
by qPCR suggest that this alteration is achieved by two independent means, one, but not the
other, being related to symbiont density. These results suggest that oxidative homeostasis
may often be a target of selection following symbiosis establishment.
99
Transinfection of Aedes vexans with wAlbB Wolbachia by adult
microinjection
Riccardo Moretti
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustanaible Economic Development, Rome, Italy
Francesca Marini
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy
Claudio De Liberato
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e Toscana, Rome, Italy
Maurizio Calvitti
Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustanaible Economic Development, Rome, Italy
Aedes (Aedimorphus) vexans (Meigen) is a mosquito species widely distributed all over the
northern hemisphere but also present in various parts of Africa, Central America, Australia
and the Pacific. In Europe, it can be considered one of the most common mosquito species.
It is a known vector of various viruses among which West Nile, Rift Valley Fever, Eastern and
Western Equine Encephalitis, Tahyna. Common to other species of Aedes, Ae. vexans may
play a significant role in virus enzootic cycles, due to the ascertained capacity to transmit
transovarially certain viruses, maintaining them in nature during inter-epidemic periods. West
Nile and RVFV have already shown their potential to establish and spread in newly infected
areas. Due its abundance and high potential as vector, Ae. vexans could be a key species in
determining new outbreaks outside the present geographical range of these important
viruses.
Certain Wolbachia strains are known to interfere with pathogen transmission causing the
viremia titer in the infected hosts to not reach levels compatible with the infection of
potential vectors.
Wolbachia transinfection is considered a valuable tool to attempt the production in laboratory
of lines with a desired phenotype and having the potential to spread in the wild populations
thanks to the driving force of the CI phenomenon. This strategy may lead to the
replacement of vector populations with populations with reduced vector competence
reducing the risk of epidemics of important diseases. Unfortunately, not all the vector species
are susceptible to Wolbachia transinfection.
In this work, we report about the use of three different Wolbachia strains, wAlbA and wAlbB
from Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and wMel from Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) to
transinfect Ae. vexans (naturally uninfected), by embryonic and adult transinfection.
Transinfected adults were obtained by the latter method. wAlbB infection was transmitted
vertically and established.
100
Symbiont gene responsible for pest status of insect host
Minoru Moriyama
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan;
m-moriyama@aist.go.jp
Takahiro Hosokawa
Naruo Nikoh
Department of Liberal Arts, The Open University of Japan, Chiba, Japan
Takema Fukatsu
Understanding insect genotypes that increase or decrease pest status against agricultural
plants is not only of evolutionary interest but also of applied importance. Stinkbugs of the
Megacopta cribraria-punctatissima species complex, which are widely distributed across the
East Asian region and recently invading the North America, naturally live on kudzu plants
Pueraria spp. and often infest and damage soybean plants. Our previous study showed that
M. punctatissima distributed in the mainland Japan successfully utilizes soybean plants
whereas M. cribraria distributed in south-western islands of Japan does not perform well on
soybean plants. Symbiont exchange experiments revealed that their gut symbiotic bacteria
Ishikawaella, rather than the insects themselves, determine the different pest status of the
insect hosts on soybean. Here we report comparative analyses of Ishikawaella genomes
associated with these two species to determine symbiont genes relevant to the pest status.
We found that these symbiont genomes are quite similar: in total, 173 site differences were
identified, which consisted of base substitutions and small indels. Notably, open reading
frames for two bacterial genes encoding Ary (arylesterase) and Era were disrupted only in
the Ishikawaella genome associated with M. cribraria. When these two symbiont genes were
genotyped in geographical populations of M. cribraria-punctatissima complex across the
Japanese Archipelago, three types were identified: both Ary and Era are intact; Ary is intact
and Era is disrupted; and both Ary and Era are disrupted. When insects from six Japanese
populations, whose symbionts exhibit these different genotypes, were reared on soybean
plants, their performance was correlated with intact / disrupted Ary genotype. Our finding
provides insights into the mechanism and the evolutionary origin of insect pests, potentially
leading to novel applications.
101
Wolbachia diversity between host phenotype and phylogenetic
incongruence between Wolbachia and WO phage in Vollenhovia
emeryi
Soyeon Park
Division of Ecoscience, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea; sy.soyeon@gmail.com
Pureum Noh
Yong-Jin Won
Jae Chun Choe
Gilsang Jeong
The Vollenhovia emeryi ant, widely distributed in Far East, shows queen polymorphism
associated with Wolbachia infection status. The phylogenetic analysis of the ant's mtDNA
reveals derivation of the Wolbachia-free short-winged from the Wolbachia-infected longwinged. However, intriguingly, some Japanese short-winged colonies harbor Wolbachia.
Wolbachia specific bacteriophage (WO) is also detected in more than half of the infected
colonies with no clear distribution pattern across the host insect lineage. We hypothesized
that 1) the infected Japanese short-winged is in the intermediate stage to complete loss of
Wolbachia and 2) the phage invaded the host after the host insect diverged. To test the
hypotheses, we studied the strain diversity using the multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) of
five ant colonies; three long-winged colonies from Korea and one long-winged colony and
one short-winged colony from Japan. Both Korean and Japanese V. emeryi colonies show
unexpectedly high levels of Wolbachia strain diversity. However, the diversity is not
significantly different between the long-winged and the short-winged against our first
hypothesis. Phylogenies of Wolbachia show Korean strains and Japanese strains are largely
monophyletic indicating prior infection before the host divergence. The strain diversity of the
phage is also surprisingly high. Phylogenies of orf2 and orf7 genes are incongruent to that of
Wolbachia and geographically distinct. This indicates that the phage is spatially static and the
current infection pattern may be the consequence of local repeated gain and loss of the
phage.
102
What does the influence of Wolbachia on the testis stem cell
niche reveal on the impact of the bacteria on the Drosophila
melanogaster male biology?
Stéphanie M. Pontier
Department of Development and Stem cells, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
François Schweisguth
Department of Development and Stem cells, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Stem cells and their niches are in charge of tissue homeostasis and as such constitute
sensitive sentinels of the physiology of an organism. In order to study with precision how
physiology affects a stem cell niche, we have developed a quantitative mathematical strategy
based on the characterization of the niche cellular composition at the single niche level. By
applying this strategy to the testis stem cell niche, we have discovered that infection of D.
melanogaster with wMelCS affected significantly the testis stem cell niche homeostasis in
just eclosed adult males. Wolbachia having a particular tropism for the gonad stem cell
niches in several Drosophila species, its impact on these niches might be local. We provide
evidences suggesting that local impact is unlikely to fully explain our observations in young
D. melanogaster males. Indeed, simple manipulations of the social environment of
Wolbachia-infected males during their metamorphosis are sufficient to restore a testis niche
homeostasis comparable to the one observed in control males. In contrast, restoration of the
niche homeostasis is precluded in olfactive dead mutant males infected with wMelCS. Finally,
we show that the influence of social environment on Wolbachia-infected males during their
metamorphosis is not restricted to the testis tissue and has systemic consequences, both at
the eclosion time and the fertility levels.
103
The history and ongoing invasion of Wolbachia in European
Rhagoletis cerasi populations
Hannes Schuler
Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy; Hannes.Schuler@unibz.it
Kirsten Köppler
Center for Agricultural Technology Augustenberg, Karlsruhe, Germany
Sabine Daxböck-Horvath
Department of Crop Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Bilal Rasool
Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
Susanne Krumböck
Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Dietmar Schwarz
Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, USA
Thomas Hoffmeister
Institute of Ecology, University of Bremen, Germany
Institute of Ecology, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Florian M. Steiner
Christian Stauffer
Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Wolfgang Arthofer
Markus Riegler
Wolbachia is a widespread reproductive parasite of insects that can impact host ecology and
evolution. The European cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis cerasi, is infected by up to five distinct
Wolbachia strains. The most prevalent strains are wCer1, fixed in all populations, and wCer2,
currently invading European populations by inducing cytoplasmatic incompatibility.
Here we analyze the spatial distribution of these two Wolbachia strains in European R. cerasi
populations and compare it with the mitochondrial and nuclear genotypes of its host. We
found heavily reduced host mitochondrial diversity, indicative for two sequential selective
sweeps caused by the current wCer2 and the former wCer1 invasion. While both infections
are associated with specific mitochondrial haplotypes, the analysis of seven microsatellite loci
showed no Wolbachia linked nuclear structure. Detailed population data over a time period
of ten years suggests that wCer2 is rarely lost from infected populations; occasional
intraspecific horizontal transmission events were detected in the transition zone in central
Germany, however, without disrupting the linkage of Wolbachia and mitochondrial
haplotypes outside this region. Based on our combined dataset we discuss the evolutionary
history of Wolbachia in R. cerasi.
104
Wolbachia as incompatibility factor between Rhagoletis
populations from North America and Mexico
Hannes Schuler
Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy; Hannes.Schuler@unibz.it
Eduardo Tadeo
Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Mexico
Juan Rull
Martin Aluja
Scott P. Egan
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, USA
Christian Stauffer
Department of Forest & Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Jeffrey L. Feder
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, USA
Wolbachia is probably the most widespread endosymbiont, infecting a broad range of
arthropod species. This bacterium can have significant influences in the biology of its host by
influencing its reproduction. The most common mechanism is the induction of a cytoplasmic
incompatibility that can lead to a postzygotic reproductive isolation among different
Wolbachia infected populations.
Rhagoletis is a serious pest in orchards infesting various different fruits mainly in North
America and Mexico. The most famous member of this genus is the apple maggot Rhagoletis
pomonella. Naturally infesting hawthorns, a population shifted to domesticated apples as a
new host. This resulted in the formation of an ecologically and genetically distinct host race,
which acts as a textbook example of sympatric speciation. Additionally, recent studies have
shown that R. pomonella formed at least two genetically isolated populations in Mexico.
In contrast, speciation in the R. cingulata species group appears to have formed by a variety
of different modes: cherry-infesting R. cingulata and R. indifferens are diverging by classic
allopatric (geographic) speciation, while R. osmanthi and R. chionanthi formed sympatrically,
by adapting to different hosts. Similar to R. pomonella, R. cingulata also has isolated
populations in Mexico.
Mating studies crossing North American R. pomonella and R. cingulata populations with flies
from Northern and Central Mexico have revealed a degree of postzygotic reproductive
isolation. In this presentation, we examine the cause of the incompatibility by studying their
Wolbachia infections and discuss the possible influence of this bacteria on the evolution of
reproductive isolation for Rhagoletis flies.
105
Pharmacokinetic / pharmacodynamic modelling of Wolbachia
growth dynamics under antibiotic drug pressure in a lymphatic
filariasis murine infection model
Raman Sharma
Department of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK; rsharma8@liv.ac.uk
Ghaith Aljayoussi
Steven A. Ward
Mark J. Taylor
Ana de Castro Guimaraes
Jill Davies
Louise Ford
Alison Shone
Joseph D. Turner
David Waterhouse
Wolbachia is an essential endosymbiont of the filarial nematodes Wuchereria bancrofti,
Brugia malayi and Onchocerca volvulus which are the causative agents of lymphatic filariasis
and onchocerciasis. An estimated 120 million are infected by lymphatic filariasis and 17.7
million infected by onchocerciasis throughout the tropics leading to a profound public health
and socio-economic burden in severely affected communities.
Targeting of Wolbachia in these filarial nematodes using antibiotic chemotherapy has been
shown to deliver a safe macrofilaricidal activity and reduce filarial burden, morbidity and
transmission. The current gold standard anti-Wolbachia drug regimen is a 100 - 200 mg/day
doxycycline dose given for four to six weeks. The A•WOL consortium funded by a grant
awarded to Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
aims to reduce the current treatment time to seven days or less as aligned with the Target
Product Profiles for an anti-Wolbachia macrofilaricide.
To achieve a rapid seven-day or less kill rate of Wolbachia, a number of antibiotic
combinations will be optimised. These include the tetracyclines (doxycycline and
minocycline), rifamycins (rifampicin and rifapentine), and a fluoroquinolone (moxifloxacin) as
well as combinations with anti-helminthic drugs. Our rational approach involves identifying
optimal treatments in in-vivo models and translation from the lab into clinical field trials.
We have initially studied the dynamics of Wolbachia under drug pressure with doxycycline,
minocycline, moxifloxacin, and rifampicin in the AWOL validated mouse Brugia malayi
infection model. Using experimental pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) data
we have constructed a series of PK-PD models and simulations to further dissect and
quantify the dynamics of Wolbachia growth.
This data analysis displays the power of PK-PD modelling in quantifying the dynamics of
Wolbachia growth under antibiotic drug pressure.
106
Investigation of a candidate Wolbachia type IV effector from
strain wAna provides insight into a mechanism for host
manipulation
Kathy B. Sheehan
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA; sheehaka@gmail.com
Irene L. G. Newton
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA
Wolbachia comprises a group of phylogenetically diverse, obligately intracellular bacteria
famous for manipulating a broad range of invertebrate hosts. The molecular tools that are
used by these bacteria in order to control host cell biology are currently unknown. From
genomic sequencing of various Wolbachia strains, we know that the bacteria encode a
complete, type IV secretion system that likely secretes 'effectors' into host cells during
infection. We utilized a combination of high-throughput screening in yeast and bioinformatics
to identify and characterize a potential effector from Wolbachia that infects Drosophila
ananassae. We focused on this protein because our analysis revealed that it contains a
domain homologous to those found in plant apoptosis machinery. Transcripts of the protein
were found in infected, but not uninfected, D. ananassae ovaries. Using a custom antibody
targeting the putative Wolbachia effector, we were able to show that the full-length protein
specifically expressed across developmental stages of infected flies. Additionally, we
investigated the presence of the protein in cytosolic fractions of infected host cells, a
property necessary for secreted effectors. We conducted a yeast-two-hybrid screen to
identify interaction partners revealing interactions with important members of the host's
oxidative stress response pathways. Because Wolbachia are known to manipulate ROS levels
in their hosts, we predict that these secreted proteins may be involved in altering host cell
redox state.
107
In vitro and in vivo assays for the assessment of cytoplasmic
competence of wDi from the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina
citri, with other Wolbachia strains
Paul D. Shirk
Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Gainesville, USA; paul.shirk@ars.usda.gov
Richard B. Furlong
Eric D. LoVullo
To assess how different strains of Wolbachia compete when occupying the same cells,
superinfections of various Wolbachia strains were established in the same cultured cells and
insects. The most prevalent Wolbachia strain of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, wDi
(Supergroup B) was transinfected into the Bombyx mori Bm5 cell line starting with newly laid
eggs. Wolbachia from the Caribbean fruit fly, Anastrepha suspensa, wAsu (Supergroup A),
the Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella, wEku (Supergroup A), wMel (Supergroup
A) and wAlbB (Supergroup B) were also established in Bm5 cells. To test interactions
between wDi and other Wolbachia strains, dual-infections between Bm5/wDi and the other
Wolbachia strains were made. The dynamics of the dual-infections were followed using qRTPCR to measure the copy number of each strain relative to the Bm5 host genome. Dualinfections between wDi and the other strains resulted in extensive Bm5 cell death within
seven days.
Purified Wolbachia strains from the cultured cell lines were used to establish single infections
in Drosophila simulans. Establishment of the Wolbachia infection was confirmed by direct
PCR using strain specific primers. The single infected D. simulans wDi strain was cross-mated
with each of the other single infected D. simulans strains to establish superinfections to
assess cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) effects. The ratio of the co-infecting Wolbachia was
monitored by qRT-PCR. Studies established CI effects in cross-mated flies with each singular
Wolbachia infected strain. We discuss the potential of utilizing other Wolbachia strains to
provide CI biological drive in the Asian citrus psyllid.
108
Wolbachia mediated protection against pathogenic bacteria in
two isopod models
Christine Braquart-Varnier
Mine Altinli
Romain Pigeault
Maladies Infectieuses et Vecteurs: Écologie, Génétique, Évolution et Contrôle (MIVEGEC), Montpellier, France
Frédéric Chevalier
Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, USA
Gaëtan Mappa
Pierre Grève
Didier Bouchon
Mathieu Sicard
Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, Université Montpellier 2, France; Mathieu.sicard@univ-montp2.fr
Symbionts largely affect their hosts' life history traits and fitness. Previous studies showed
that vertically transmitted symbionts can protect the host against pathogens. Among this
symbionts, the Wolbachia have recently been shown to confer protection to their hosts
against a wide range of pathogens, especially viruses. The present study aims to test
whether resident Wolbachia could confer protection to terrestrial isopods against invasive
intracellular bacteria (Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria ivanovii but also the pathogenic
Wolbachia strain wVulC). To do so, we assessed the survival during bacterial infections of
Armadillidium vulgare and Porcellio d. dilatatus isopods when they are symbiotically
associated or not with resident Wolbachia. We showed that when feminizing and CI
Wolbachia have an effect on the survival of their hosts during the bacterial infection, this
effect is always beneficial to the host. However, the intensity of the "anti-pathogenic" effect
is clearly dependent on the Wolbachia strain and the genetic background of the host.
109
Insights into the evolution of Cardinium: the development of a
Multi Locus Sequence Typing system
Corinne M. Stouthamer
Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; cmstouthamer@gmail.com
Marco Gebiola
Suzanne E. Kelly
Martha S. Hunter
Cardinium is an intracellular reproductive manipulator in the phylum Bacteroidetes that is
found in many different species of arthropods. This independently-evolved symbiont lineage
exhibits three of the four reproductive phenotypes attributed to Wolbachia, including
cytoplasmic incompatibility, long thought to be unique to Wolbachia-infected hosts. Genetic
and phylogenetic analyses of Cardinium in comparison with Wolbachia offer an opportunity
to determine functional equivalents and differences between the two lineages. Placing
individual strains of Cardinium within a larger evolutionary context is currently challenging
because only two genes (16S rDNA and Gyrase B) have been used to generate phylogenetic
trees, and consequently, the relationship of these different strains has only been elucidated
in its roughest form. The development of a Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) system
would provide the research community with new primers for detecting Cardinium,
unambiguous methods of delineating strains, and more informative phylogenetic trees. I am
in the process of designing universal Cardinium PCR primers for four different genes:
Translation Elongation Factor G (EF-G), Heat Shock Protein (groEL), Iron Sulfur Cluster
Assembly Protein (sufB), and Gyrase B (gyrB). These will be used to identify, describe, and
place strains of Cardinium into a phylogenetic tree. Based on my preliminary tree, Cardinium
appears to display more host affinity than Wolbachia. However, similar to Wolbachia, the
reproductive manipulations are dispersed across the tree, and thus have likely evolved
independently multiple times. To date, this is the most robust tree available for investigating
Cardinium evolution.
110
The role of the host in Wolbachia-virus interactions
Jakob F. Strauss
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany; jfstrauss@gmail.com
Takeshi Miki
Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Arndt Telschow
There is growing empirical evidence that Wolbachia (WB) directly interact with viruses inside
the arthropod host, sometimes resulting in low or no virus replication. Previous theoretical
studies showed that this direct effect of WB can result in reduced virus prevalence (within
the population), suggesting that WB could be used in the biological control of vector-borne
diseases (e.g., dengue fever). However, most of the models focus on WB-virus interactions,
whereas the potential roles of the host are overlooked. In order to fill this gap, we
investigated two questions through mathematical modeling. (1) How is host resistance
against the virus affected by WB? We investigated the tripartite interactions between WB,
virus, and host by a model that incorporates (i) horizontal virus- and vertical WBtransmission, (ii) cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), (iii) WB resistance against virus, and (iv)
host resistance against virus. Our main finding is that the spread of WB causes the loss of
costly host resistance alleles. We discuss implications of this loss of genetic diversity with
respect to vector-borne diseases. (2) How does the host's life history affect WB-virus
codynamics? We consider a scenario, in which WB do not affect virus replication inside
coinfected hosts. However, WB might indirectly affect the virus because reproductive
phenotypes (CI or male killing) increase larval mortality of hosts and thus alter virus
dynamics. Our analysis revealed that this indirect effect depends strongly on the host's life
history, and can result in two opposing outcomes: (i) reduced virus prevalence and virus
invasion ability, and (ii) increased virus prevalence and virus invasion ability. The former
occurs for host species with larval competition and undercompensation, the latter for hosts
with either adult competition or larval competition and overcompensation. These findings
suggest that the effect of WB on a specific virus is sensitive to the host's life history.
111
A male-killing Wolbachia affects the dosage compensation of its
lepidopteran host?
Takafumi N. Sugimoto
Frontier Research Core for the Life Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan; sugimoto@ctg.u-toyama.ac.jp
Takumi Kayukawa
Division of Insect Sciences, The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan
Yukio Ishikawa
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Biology, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Tetsuro Shinoda
Division of Insect Sciences, The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan
Tsutomu Tsuchida
Frontier Research Core for the Life Sciences, University of Toyama, Japan
Wolbachia, a group of endosymbiotic bacteria harbored by a wide range of insects, is known
for various manipulations of host reproduction to expedite their own propagation. Wolbachia
(wSca) infecting the Adzuki bean borer moth Ostrinia scapulalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)
causes male killing, in which males (genotype ZZ) selectively die during embryonic and early
larval development, whereas females (genotype ZW), in turn, selectively die when cured of
infection.
In a previous study, we analyzed phenotypic sex (sex determination gene expression
pattern, male-type or female type) and genetic sex (sex chromosome type, ZZ or ZW) of the
embryos and larvae of normal, wSca-infected, and infected-and-cured O. scapulalis. As the
results, it was observed that the female-type sex-determination gene was expressed in the
infected genetic male (ZZ) progenies destined to die, whereas the male-type sexdetermination gene was expressed in the cured genetic female (ZW) progenies destined to
die. This result suggested the discordance of the genetic and phenotypic sexes underlie the
sex-specific death, but the mechanism of death is unresolved. One plausible explanation for
sex-dependent lethality may be discordance in dosage compensation, i.e. sex-dependent
adjustment of the expression levels of genes on the sex chromosomes.
So, we focused on the dosage compensation and analyzed the Z chromosome-linked gene
expression by quantitative PCR. For this conference, we will describe the result of
comparison experiment of Z chromosome-linked gene expression in the embryos and larvae
of normal, wSca-infected, and infected-and-cured O. scapulalis.
112
Reproductive parasitism and gene flow modification
Arndt Telschow
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Westfalian Wilhelms-University, Munster, Germany; a.telschow@wwu.de
Yutaka Kobayashi
Kochi University of Technology, Japan
John H. Werren
University of Rochester, USA
Peter Hammerstein
Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
The term reproductive parasitism is commonly used to describe infective agents that
manipulate the reproductive system of their host to their own advantage. Among the
reproductive manipulations are feminization, male killing, and cytoplasmic incompatibility.
Well-studied reproductive parasites belong to the bacterial groups Wolbachia, Rickettsia,
Cardinia, Arsenophonus, and Spiroplasma. The wide distribution of these bacterial groups
among arthropods makes the study of reproductive parasitism an important topic in
evolution. The present (theoretical) study is motivated by the (experimental) findings that
different host populations often differ with respect to their infection state, i.e. some
populations are infected while others are not or with a different strain. Based on these
findings we constructed several population genetic models in order to investigate how such
infection polymorphism affect the gene flow between populations. To measure gene flow we
make use of the concept of effective migration rate. Our analysis revealed that, generally,
infection with reproductive parasites modify host gene flow. Interestingly, populations with
highest degree of infection are thereby converted into population genetic sinks. This is true
for all forms of reproductive parasitism. These results give general insights to the evolution
of selfish genetic elements. We discuss the implications with respect to host evolution and
host-parasite coevolution, especially speciation and local adaptation.
113
Host plant specialization matters in the epidemiology of
Wolbachia across phytophagous wasps (Hymenoptera:
Torymidae)
Thomas Boivin
INRA, Avignon, France
Hélène Henri
Fabrice Vavre
Biometry and Evolutionary Biology Lab, University of Lyon 1, France; fabrice.vavre@univ-lyon1.fr
Cindy Gidoin
Philippe Veber
Jean-Noel Candau
Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Ontario, Canada
Alain Roques
Marie-Anne Auger-Rozenberg
Among eukaryotes, sexual reproduction is by far the most predominant mode of
reproduction. However, some systems maintaining sexuality appear particularly labile and
raise intriguing questions on the evolutionary routes to asexuality. Thelytokous
parthenogenesis is a form of spontaneous loss of sexuality leading to strong distortion of sex
ratio towards females and resulting from mutation, hybridization or infection by bacterial
endosymbionts. We investigated whether ecological specialization is a likely mechanism of
spread of thelytoky within insect communities. Focusing on the highly-specialized genus
Megastigmus (Hymenoptera: Torymidae), we first performed a large literature survey to
examine the distribution of thelytoky in these wasps across their respective obligate host
plant families. Second, we tested for thelytoky caused by endosymbionts by screening in 15
arrhenotokous and 10 thelytokous species for Wolbachia, Cardinium, Arsenophonus and
Rickettsia endosymbionts and by performing antibiotic treatments. Finally, we performed
phylogenetic reconstructions using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to examine the
evolution of endosymbiont-mediated thelytoky in Megastigmus and its possible connections
to host plant specialization. We demonstrate that thelytoky evolved from ancestral
arrhenotoky through the horizontal transmission and the fixation of the parthenogenesisinducing Wolbachia. We find that ecological specialization in Wolbachia's hosts was probably
a critical driving force for Wolbachia infection and spread of thelytoky, but also a constraint.
Our work further reinforces the hypothesis that community structure of insects is a major
driver of the epidemiology of endosymbionts and that competitive interactions among closely
related species may facilitate their horizontal transmission.
114
Wolbachia infection in Polish Liophloeodes
(Coleoptera:Curculionidae) populations: pathways of transfer
and influence on host reproduction
Beniamin Waclawik
Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland; beniamin.waclawik@uj.edu.pl
Dorota Lachowska-Cierlik
Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Iwona Warzyszynska
Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Wolbachia routes of transmission are one of most widely discussed problem applying to this
bacterium. Although significant role of vertical transfer in spreading of Wolbachia is
confirmed, frequent incongruence between phylogenies of the bacterium and host indicates
that also horizontal transmission is important. Good way to find out routes of Wolbachia
movement among hosts from particular systematic group is to compare phylogeny of
endosymbiont with host phylogeny (similarities pinpoints vertical transfer) and host ecology
and geography (similarities suggest horizontal transfer).
About 40% of European weevil species are estimated to be infected with Wolbachia. Among
them are two species from Liophloeodes subgenus L. lentus and L. gibbus. Both of them are
Carpathian subendemic species with similar ecological preferences. In Poland there are many
populations of these weevils and there are potential contact zones between divergent
populations, that could enable vertical transfer.
The main goal of this research was to discover possible pathways of Wolbachia transfer
among Polish populations of these two species. Weevils from 15 populations were tested.
Their phylogeny (based on EF1-alpha gene) and geographical distribution were compared
with phylogeny of their Wolbachia endosymbionts (based on ftsZ and wsp genes).
Wolbachia infections and vertical transfer cause many changes in host reproduction. These
abnormalities often lead to discordances between mitochondrial and nuclear DNA phylogeny.
In second part of the research, nDNA (EF1-alpha and ITS2) and mtDNA (COI and CytB)
phylogenies of 20 Polish Liophloeodes populations were compared. There was made attempt
to discover discordances that would indicate significance of vertical transfer.
Serious incongruence between mtDNA and nDNA phylogeny was found out, however
Wolbachia phylogeny indicates great role of horizontal transfer among studied populations.
115
Combining Sterile Insect Technique with Wolbachia-based
approaches: assessing effects on fitness of triple and double
Wolbachia-infected strains of Aedes albopictus
Dongjing Zhang
Austria; zhangdongjing06@163.com
Zhiyong Xi
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA.
Konstantinos Bourtzis
Austria
Jeremile Gilles
Austria
Together with other control methods, the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and the
Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) are currently being considered, separately or in
combination, as potential approaches for the suppression of populations of the major vector
mosquito species Aedes albopictus in Guangzhou, China. Natural populations of Ae.
albopictus are double-infected with the Wolbachia strains wAlbA and wAlbB. By embryonic
microinjections, a new triple Wolbachia infected line (wAlbA, wAlbB, and wPip), HC line, has
been developed which expresses strong Cytoplasmic Incompatibility (CI) in matings between
the transinfected males and wild type females. In this study, we present the comparative
analysis of the life history traits of three Ae. albopictus lines (triple-infected, double-infected
and uninfected), all of them with the same ("Guangzhou") genomic background. Under the
same rearing conditions, the egg-hatching rate, survivorship of pupae and adults, sex ratio,
duration of larval stage (L1 to pupae stage), duration of adult stage (L1 to adult emergence),
female fecundity and male longevity were investigated. Our results suggest a minimal effect
of Wolbachia on the fitness of these populations. Based on this evidence, the triple-infected
line is currently considered for mass rearing and the application of a combined SIT-IIT
strategy to control Ae. albopictus populations in the Guangzhou area in China.
116
Knockdown of ATPsyn-b caused larval growth defect and male
infertility in Drosophila
Ya-Na Chen
Ya Zheng
College of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China; zhengyahb@163.com
Jing-Jing Li
Jia-Lin Wang
Yu-Feng Wang
ATPsyn-b gene is encoded Drosophila mitochondrial membrane F0F1-type ATPase F0 b
subunit, involved in the process of oxidative phosphorylation and ATP synthesis, thus
providing energy for Drosophila life activities. In this study, firstly Gal4-UAS system was
adopt for acquiring flies lines with ATPsyn-b knock-down both in testis and extensive body
respectively. Then, males embryo hatching were detected and showed they are infertile
when ATPsyn-b knock-down occur in testis. Further study showed this male sterility was
caused by abnormal spermatogenesis, such as sperm nuclei in cyst of mutant males were
completely decentralized, thus failed to form normal sperm bundles. Moreover, individualized
mature sperm were absent in seminal vesicles near the end of testis. Additionally, ATPsyn-b
widely knock-down flies showed developmental stagnation just in the second instar larvae
while the control larvae had developed into the third instar. Remarkably, ATPsyn-b knockdown individual were still remain as the size of the second instar larvae until control adult
had been all emerged, and died finally. Combining the result of qRT-PCR, that proved the
phenotype of arrested development was indeed caused by ATPsyn-b knock-down, which also
show cell volume failed to increase proved by Brdu incorporation experiments. In short, our
results proved that ATPsyn-b gene played an important role on both Drosophila
spermatogenesis and larval development, which may help offer a new direction and clue for
studying insect male infertility. Further deeper study on the mechanism of infertility were
also needed.
117
Author index
—A—
Abd-Alla A. M. M............................................ 48
Aksoy S. ....................................................... 56
Albertson R. .................................................. 35
Aljayoussi G. ............................................... 106
Altinli M. ..................................................... 109
Aluja M. ...................................................... 105
Anbutsu H............................................... 71, 74
Armstrong S. D.............................................. 50
Arroyo-Yebras F....................................... 13, 76
Arthofer W. ........................................... 94, 104
Asiimwe P. .................................................... 37
Asimakis H. ................................................... 27
Atyame C. ..................................................... 61
Auger-Rozenberg M. A. ................................ 114
Augustinos A. ................................................ 27
—B—
Badawi M. ............................................... 66, 75
Bah G. S. ...................................................... 50
Bailly-Bechet M.............................................. 10
Bandi C......................................................... 98
Bauer S......................................................... 26
Bazzocchi C. .................................................. 98
Bella J. L. ..................................... 13, 68, 76, 77
Bellet C. ........................................................ 60
Berny C......................................................... 99
Berry N. G..................................................... 51
Bertaux J. ..................................................... 53
Berthomieu A. ............................................... 61
Bevins D. ................................................ 89, 93
Bian G. ................................................... 22, 93
Bleidorn C. .............................................. 12, 78
Boivin T. ..................................................... 114
Bordenstein S................................................ 44
Bouchon D. ...........................52, 53, 72, 80, 109
Boucias D. G. ................................................ 48
Bourret J....................................................... 92
Bourtzis K. ................................. 26, 27, 48, 116
Bouvaine S.................................................... 17
Braquart-Varnier C................................. 52, 109
Brelsfoard C. L............................................... 20
Brucker R...................................................... 44
Bykov R. ....................................................... 15
—C—
Caceres C...................................................... 27
Cafiso A. ....................................................... 98
Calvitti M. ............................................. 21, 100
Candau J. N. ............................................... 114
Cárdenas J. ................................................... 92
Cariou M. ................................................ 10, 79
Carpentier M. C. ............................................ 52
Cass B. N. ..................................................... 37
Cassidy A. ..................................................... 88
Charlat S............................................10, 18, 79
Chen Y. N. .................................................. 117
Chevalier F............................................ 52, 109
Choe J. C. ........................................16, 87, 102
Chouaia B. .................................................... 98
118
Chrostek E. ................................................... 64
Clare R. ........................................................ 88
Comandatore F.............................................. 63
Cook D. A. .................................................... 88
Cook J. M................................................ 54, 91
Cordaux R. .........................................65, 66, 75
Couchoux C................................................... 81
Crain P.......................................................... 24
Curry M. M. ................................................... 58
—D—
Darby A. ....................................................... 42
Davies J. ..................................................... 106
Daxböck-Horvath S. ..................................... 104
de Castro Guimaraes A................................. 106
De Liberato C. ............................................. 100
Deehan M. .................................................... 30
Desiderio A. .................................................. 21
Desouhant E. ................................................ 99
Dittmer J....................................................... 80
Dobson S. L. ........................................... 20, 24
Dodson B. L. ................................................. 25
Doudoumis V................................................. 27
Dumas E. ...................................................... 61
Duplouy A. .................................................... 81
Duret L. ........................................................ 79
Duron O........................................................ 61
—E—
Egan S. P. ................................................... 105
Ehrmann L. ................................................... 34
Engl T........................................................... 56
Epis S. .......................................................... 98
Ernenwein L. ................................................. 65
—F—
Fast E. .................................................... 30, 59
Feder J. L.................................................... 105
Fiston-Lavier A. S. ......................................... 61
Ford L..............................................51, 88, 106
Foster J. M. ............................................. 72, 96
Francine T. N. ............................................... 21
Freilich S....................................................... 38
Frydman H. .................................. 30, 31, 32, 59
Fukatsu T..............................62, 71, 74, 82, 101
Furlong R. B. ......................................... 95, 108
—G—
Gansauge M. T. ............................................. 12
Gebiola M.............................................. 83, 110
Geniez S. ...................................................... 72
Genty L. M. ................................................... 53
Gerth M. ................................................. 12, 78
Ghosh S. ....................................................... 17
Gidoin C...................................................... 114
Gilbert C. ...................................................... 65
Gilles J. ....................................................... 116
Giorgini M. .............................................. 83, 84
Giraud I. ............................................65, 66, 75
Gottlieb Y...................................................... 40
Gowda M. ..................................................... 17
Grève P........................... 52, 65, 66, 72, 75, 109
Grobler Y. ..................................................... 33
Gruntenko N. ................................................ 15
Grziwotz F............................................... 24, 85
Guerrero R. ................................................... 92
—H—
Hammerstein P.................................43, 45, 113
Hanski I. ....................................................... 81
Harumoto T. ........................................... 71, 74
Hattori M. ..................................................... 82
Henri H. ...................................................... 114
Herranz J. ..................................................... 77
Herrera P. ..................................................... 86
Himler A. G. .................................................. 37
Hoffmeister T. ............................................. 104
Hong X. Y. .................................................... 69
Hornett E. ..................................................... 18
Hosokawa T. ......................................... 82, 101
Hsiesh C. ...................................................... 24
Huang D. W. ................................................. 70
Hughes G. L. ................................................. 25
Hummel T. .................................................... 49
Hunter M. S................................ 37, 83, 97, 110
Hurst G. ........................................................ 18
Husnik F. ...................................................... 42
Hypsa V. ....................................................... 42
—I—
Ignatenko O.................................................. 15
Ilinsky Y........................................................ 15
Isberg R. R. .................................................. 36
Ishikawa Y. ................................................. 112
—J—
Jeong G. ..........................................16, 87, 102
Jiggins F. M................................................... 26
Johnston K. L. ......................................... 51, 88
Joshi D. .............................................22, 89, 93
Junker K. ...................................................... 92
—K—
Kageyama D............................................ 54, 90
Kaltenpoth M................................................. 56
Kamath A...........................................30, 31, 32
Karpova E. .................................................... 15
Kaur R. ......................................................... 49
Kayukawa T. ............................................... 112
Kelly S. E. .................................. 37, 83, 97, 110
Kemp D. ....................................................... 91
Kern P. ................................................... 54, 91
Kim K. L. H.................................................... 60
Klasson L. ..................................................... 40
Kobayashi Y. ............................................... 113
Koehler G...................................................... 76
Köppler K. ................................................... 104
Kramer L. D. ................................................. 25
Kremer N. ..................................................... 99
Krumböck S................................................. 104
Kumar S........................................................ 72
Kyritsis G. ..................................................... 27
—L—
Lachowska-Cierlik D..................................... 115
Lahav T. ....................................................... 38
Lalzar I. ........................................................ 40
Leclercq S. .................................................... 65
Lefoulon E..................................................... 92
Lehmann R. .................................................. 33
Lesobre J. ..................................................... 80
Lesser C. F. ................................................... 36
Li J. J.................................................... 55, 117
Liang X. .................................................. 22, 93
Lindsey A. R. I............................................... 11
Linke B. ........................................................ 94
Liua C. .......................................................... 55
Longdon B. ................................................... 26
LoVullo E. D. ......................................... 95, 108
Lu P.............................................................. 22
Luck A. N. ..................................................... 96
—M—
Mains J. ........................................................ 24
Mains J. W. ................................................... 20
Makepeace B. L. ............................................ 50
Makoundou P. ............................................... 61
Malone C....................................................... 33
Mann E. ........................................................ 97
Mappa G. .................................................... 109
Marini F. ............................................... 21, 100
Martin C........................................................ 92
Martin E. ....................................................... 98
Martinez J. .................................................... 26
Martínez-Rodríguez P. ................... 13, 68, 76, 77
Mavingui P. ................................................... 60
Mcfadden M. ................................................. 89
McGraw B. .................................................... 23
Mereghetti V. ................................................ 98
Mialdea G...................................................... 10
Michalkova V. ................................................ 56
Miki T. .................................................. 24, 111
Miller W. J.........................26, 27, 34, 48, 49, 56
Minard G....................................................... 60
Moné Y. ........................................................ 52
Monnin D. ..................................................... 99
Montagna M. ................................................. 98
Moretti R............................................... 21, 100
Moriyama M. ......................................... 82, 101
Moumen B. .................................. 52, 65, 66, 72
Mozes-Daube N. ............................................ 37
—N—
Nappo A. G. .................................................. 84
Newton I. L. G....................................... 36, 107
Nguyen D...................................................... 46
Nichols R. A. ................................................. 68
Nikoh N. ..........................................74, 82, 101
Nixon G. L..................................................... 51
Noël C. ......................................................... 52
Noh P. .............................................16, 87, 102
Novakova E. .................................................. 42
—O—
Ok S. ............................................................ 26
O'Neill P. M. .................................................. 51
O'Neill S........................................................ 23
Oshima K. ..................................................... 82
—P—
Pan X............................................................ 22
Papadopoulos N. ........................................... 27
Park S..............................................16, 87, 102
Parker A. G. .................................................. 48
Parrella G...................................................... 84
119
Pastok D. ...................................................... 18
Pérez-Ruiz M. .......................................... 76, 77
Pigeault R. .................................................. 109
Pontier S. M. ............................................... 103
—R—
Rabe A.......................................................... 35
Raimond M.................................................... 53
Rasgon J. L. .................................................. 25
Rasool B. .................................................... 104
Reynolds L. ................................................... 18
Riegler M. .................................. 46, 54, 91, 104
Rong X. ........................................................ 69
Roques A. ................................................... 114
Rose R. I....................................................... 20
Rota-Stabelli O. ............................................. 49
Rull J. ......................................................... 105
Ryder J. ........................................................ 18
—S—
Sagot M. F. ................................................... 10
Schlick-Steiner B. C................................ 94, 104
Schmitz-Esser S............................................. 97
Schneider D. ................................ 27, 34, 48, 56
Schuler H. ............................................104, 105
Schwarz D................................................... 104
Schweisguth F. ............................................ 103
Serbus L. ...................................................... 35
Sharma R.................................................... 106
Sheehan K. B. ....................................... 36, 107
Shinoda T. .................................................. 112
Shirk P. D.............................................. 95, 108
Shone A. ..................................................... 106
Sicard M. .............................................. 61, 109
Simhadri R. K. .............................. 30, 31, 32, 59
Simões P....................................................... 10
Slatko B. E. ............................................. 72, 96
Sochova E. .................................................... 42
Spooner-Hart R. ............................................ 46
Stauffer C. ...........................................104, 105
Steiner F. M. ......................................... 94, 104
Stouthamer C. M. .................................. 97, 110
Stouthamer R. ............................................... 11
Strauss J. F. ................................................ 111
Strunov A. A.................................................. 34
Sugihara G. ................................................... 24
Sugimoto T. N. ............................................ 112
Sullivan W..................................................... 35
Szöllõsi G. ..................................................... 10
—T—
Tadeo E. ..................................................... 105
Tanaka K. ..................................................... 74
Tanya V. N.................................................... 50
Taylor M. J. ......................................51, 88, 106
Teixeira L...........................................26, 41, 64
120
Telschow A. ........................24, 45, 85, 111, 113
Thézé J......................................................... 65
Thuy T. H. T. ................................................ 60
Toomey M..........................................30, 31, 32
Tran F. H. ..................................................... 60
Truitt A. M. ................................................... 14
Tsiamis G...................................................... 27
Tsuchida T. ................................................. 112
Turner J. D............................................ 51, 106
—U—
Unwin V. T. ................................................... 88
—V—
Valiente Moro C. ............................................ 60
van Nouhuys S. ............................................. 81
Van V. T. ...................................................... 60
Vavre F. ..................................... 52, 75, 99, 114
Veber P....................................................... 114
—W—
Waclawik B. ................................................ 115
Wang G. H. ................................................... 70
Wang J. L. .................................................. 117
Wang Y. F. ............................................ 55, 117
Wanga J. L.................................................... 55
Ward S. A. .......................................51, 88, 106
Warzyszynska I. .......................................... 115
Wastling J. M. ............................................... 50
Waterhouse D. ............................................ 106
Weigert A...................................................... 12
Weill M. ........................................................ 61
Weisman N. .................................................. 15
Weiss B......................................................... 56
Werren J. H................................................. 113
White J. A. .................................................... 58
White P......................................................... 35
Won Y. J. .................................................... 102
—X—
Xi Z. .......................................... 22, 89, 93, 116
Xiao J. H. ...................................................... 70
Xiong E. J...................................................... 55
—Y—
Ye H. ............................................................ 23
Yu X. Q. ........................................................ 55
Yuan L. L. ..................................................... 55
Yudina M. ..................................................... 15
—Z—
Zakharenko L. ............................................... 15
Zakharov I. ................................................... 15
Zchori-Fein E. .......................................... 37, 38
Zhang D...................................................... 116
Zhang F. ....................................................... 89
Zhang Y. K. ................................................... 69
Zheng Y. ............................................... 55, 117
Zug R. .......................................................... 43
List of participants
Ghaith Aljayyoussi
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Liverpool, UK
susie.crossman@liv.ac.uk
Sophie Bouvaine
Natural Resources Institute
Chatham maritime, UK
bs33@gre.ac.uk
Hisashi Anbutsu
AIST
Tsukuba, Japan
h-anbutsu@aist.go.jp
Alessandra Cafiso
Università degli Studi di Milano
Milano, Italia
alessandra.cafiso@unimi.it
Wolfgang Arthofer
Innsbruck, Austria
wolfgang.arthofer@uibk.ac.at
Maurizio Calvitti
ENEA
Rome, Italy
maurizio.calvitti@enea.it
Patrizia Arthofer-Peer
Innsbruck, Austria
part@peerart.at
Marie Cariou
Université Lyon 1
Villeurbanne, France
marie.cariou@univ-lyon1.fr
Myriam Badawi
Université de Poitiers
Poitiers, France
myriam.badawi@univ-poitiers.fr
Julien Cattel
Université Lyon 1
Villeurbanne Cedex, France
julien.cattel@univ-lyon1.fr
José L. Bella
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
bella@uam.es
Sylvain Charlat
Université Lyon 1
sylvain.charlat@univ-lyon1.fr
Joanne Bertaux
Poitiers, France
joanne.bertaux@univ-poitiers.fr
Ewa Chrostek
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência
Oeiras, Portugal
echrostek@igc.gulbenkian.pt
Christoph Bleidorn
University of Leipzig
Leipzig, Germany
bleidorn@uni-leipzig.de
Francesco Comandatore
University of Milan
Milano, Italia
francesco.comandatore@unimi.it
Seth Bordenstein
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, USA
s.bordenstein@vanderbilt.edu
Richard Cordaux
Poitiers, France
richard.cordaux@univ-poitiers.fr
Didier Bouchon
Poitiers, France
didier.bouchon@univ-poitiers.fr
Katherina Damisch
Innsbruck, Austria
katherina.damisch@student.uibk.ac.at
Kostas Bourtzis
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna, Austria
K.Bourtzis@iaea.org
Jessica Dittmer
Poitiers, France
jessica.dittmer@univ-poitiers.fr
121
Stephen Dobson
University of Kentucky
Lexington, USA
sdobson@uky.edu
Alexandra Grosbusch
Innsbruck, Austria
alexandra.grosbusch@student.uibk.ac.at
Anne Duplouy
Metapopulation Research Group
Helsinki, Finland
anne.duplouy@helsinki.fi
Florian Grziwotz
Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity
Münster, Germany
f_grzi01@wwu.de
Sara Epis
Università degli Studi di Milano
Milano, Italia
sara.epis@guest.unimi.it
Sarina Hammerle
Innsbruck, Austria
sarina.hammerle@student.uibk.ac.at
Louise Ford
Liverpool, UK
louise.ford@liverpool.ac.uk
Peter Hammerstein
Humboldt University Berlin
Berlin, Germany
p.hammerstein@biologie.hu-berlin.de
Crystal Frost
University of Liverpool
Liverpool, UK
Crystal.Frost@liverpool.ac.uk
Toshiyuki Harumoto
AIST
Tsukuba, Japan
t-harumoto@aist.go.jp
Horacio Frydman
Boston University
Boston, USA
hfrydman@bu.edu
Paul Herrera
University of Veterinary Medicine
Wien, Vienna
paulherrera88@gmail.com
Takema Fukatsu
AIST
Tsukuba, Japan
t-fukatsu@aist.go.jp
Xiao-Yue Hong
Nanjing Agricultural University
Nanjing, CHINA
xyhong@njau.edu.cn
Marco Gebiola
The University of Arizona
Tucson, USA
marco.gebiola@gmail.com
Molly Hunter
The University of Arizona
Tucson, USA
mhunter@ag.arizona.edu
Michael Gerth
Universität Leipzig
Leipzig, Germany
michael.gerth@uni-leipzig.de
Greg Hurst
Liverpool, UK
g.hurst@liv.ac.uk
Massimo Giorgini
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Portici, Italy
giorgini@ipp.cnr.it
Filip Husnik
University of South Bohemia
Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
filip@paru.cas.cz
Yuval Gottlieb
Hebrew University
Rehovot, Israel
yuvalgd@yahoo.com
Yury Ilinsky
Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of
Sciences
Novosibirsk, Russia
paulee@bionet.nsc.ru
Pierre Greve
Poitiers, France
pierre.greve@univ-poitiers.fr
122
Gilsang Jeong
Ewha Womans University
Seoul, Republic of Korea
ecodever@gmail.com
Kelly Johnston
Liverpool, UK
johnkel@liverpool.ac.uk
Xiao Liang
Michigan State University
East Lansing, USA
liangxiao0611@gmail.com
Deepak Joshi
East Lansing, USA
djoshi@msu.edu
Amelia Lindsey
University of California Riverside
Riverside, USA
alind005@ucr.edu
Daisuke Kageyama
National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences
Ibaraki, Japan
kagymad@affrc.go.jp
Bernd Linke
Innsbruck, Austria
bernd.linke@student.uibk.ac.at
Martin Kaltenpoth
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology
Jena, Germany
mkaltenpoth@ice.mpg.de
Eric LoVullo
United States Department of Agriculture
Gainesville, USA
eric.lovullo@ars.usda.gov
Ajit Kamath
Boston University
Boston, USA
ajit9988@bu.edu
Ashley Luck
New England Biolabs
Ipswich, USA
luck@neb.com
Rupinder Kaur
Fondazione Edmund Mach
San Michele all'adige, Italy
rupinderkaur@fmach.it
Benjamin Makepeace
Liverpool, UK
blm1@liv.ac.uk
Peter Kern
University of Western Sydney
Penrith, Australia
p.kern@uws.edu.au
Colin Malone
NYUMC - Skirball Institute
New York, USA
colin.malone@med.nyu.edu
Philipp Kirschner
Innsbruck, Austria
philipp.kirschner@student.uibk.ac.at
Evelyne Mann
Vienna, Austria
evelyne.mann@vetmeduni.ac.at
Lisa Klasson
Uppsala University
Uppsala, Sweden
lisa.klasson@icm.uu.se
Elena Martin
Università dagli Studi di Milano
Milano, Italia
elena.martin@unimi.it
Natacha Kremer
Université Lyon 1
natacha.kremer@normalesup.org
Julien Martinez
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
jtm35@cam.ac.uk
Emilie Lefoulon
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Paris, France
elefoulon@mnhn.fr
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Madrid, Spain
paloma.martinez@uam.es
Tera Levin
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, USA
teralevin@gmail.com
Elizabeth McGraw
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
beth.mcgraw@monash.edu
123
Wolfgang Miller
Medical University of Vienna
Vienna, Austria
wolfgang.miller@meduniwien.ac.at
Heike Ritthammer
Innsbruck, Austria
heike.ritthammer@student.uibk.ac.at
David Monnin
Université Lyon 1
david.monnin@univ-lyon1.fr
Sarah Scheld
Innsbruck, Austria
sarah.scheld@student.uibk.ac.at
Riccardo Moretti
ENEA
Rome, Italy
riccardo.moretti@enea.it
Innsbruck, Austria
birgit.schlick-steiner@uibk.ac.at
Minoru Moriyama
AIST
Tusukuba, Japan
m-moriyama@aist.go.jp
Stephan Schmitz-Esser
Vienna, Austria
stephan.schmitz-esser@vetmeduni.ac.at
Bouziane Moumen
Poitiers, France
bouziane.moumen@univ-poitiers.fr
Daniela Schneider
Medical University of Vienna
Vienna, Austria
daniela.schneider@meduniwien.ac.at
Irene Newton
Indiana University
Bloomington, USA
irnewton@indiana.edu
Hannes Schuler
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Bozen, Italy
hannes.schuler@boku.ac.at
Richard Nichols
Queen Mary University of London
Londón, UK
r.a.nichols@qmul.ac.uk
Julia Seeber
Innsbruck, Austria
julia.seeber@uibk.ac.at
Soyeon Park
Ewha Womans University
Seoul, Republic of Korea
sy.soyeon@gmail.com
Laura Serbus
Florida International University
Miami, USA
lserbus@fiu.edu
Caroline Pichler
Innsbruck, Austria
caroline.pichler@uibk.ac.at
Raman Sharma
Liverpool, UK
rsharma8@liv.ac.uk
Stephanie Pontier
Institut Pasteur
Paris, France
stephanie.pontier@pasteur.fr
Kathy Sheehan
Indiana University
Bloomington, USA
sheehaka@gmail.com
Jason Rasgon
Penn State University
State College, USA
jlr54@psu.edu
Paul Shirk
United States Department of Agriculture
Gainesville, USA
paul.shirk@ars.usda.gov
Markus Riegler
University of Western Sydney
Penrith, Australia
m.riegler@uws.edu.au
Mathieu Sicard
Université Montpellier 2
Montpellier, France
Mathieu.sicard@univ-montp2.fr
124
Boston University
Boston, USA
ramaks@bu.edu
Michelle Toomey
Boston University
Woburn, USA
mtoomey5@bu.edu
Barton Slatko
New England Biolabs
Ipswich, USA
slatko@neb.com
Amy Truitt
Portland State University
Portland, USA
amtruitt@pdx.edu
Christian Stauffer
Institute of Forest Entomology
Vienna, Austria
christian.stauffer@boku.ac.at
Claire Valiente Moro
Universite Lyon 1
claire.valiente-moro@univ-lyon1.fr
Florian M. Steiner
Innsbruck, Austria
florian.m.steiner@uibk.ac.at
Fabrice Vavre
Université Lyon 1
fabrice.vavre@univ-lyon1.fr
Iris S. Steiner
Innsbruck, Austria
irsteiner@tsn.at
Beniamin Waclawik
Jagiellonian University
Krakow, Poland
beniamin.waclawik@uj.edu.pl
Julia S. Steiner
Innsbruck, Austria
jsteiner1@tsn.at
Herbert C. Wagner
Innsbruck, Austria
herbert.wagner@uibk.ac.at
Corinne Stouthamer
University of Arizona
Tucson, USA
cmstouthamer@gmail.com
Guan-Hong Wang
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Beijing, China
wangguanhong@ioz.ac.cn
Jakob Friedrich Strauss
Westfaelische Wilhelms Universitaet Muenster
Muenster, Germany
jfstrauss@gmail.com
Yu-Feng Wang
Central China Normal University
Wuhan, China
yfengw@mail.ccnu.edu.cn
Takafumi Sugimoto
University of Toyama
Toyama, Japan
sugimoto@ctg.u-toyama.ac.jp
Mylène Weill
Université Montpellier 2
Montpellier, France
mylene.weill@univ-montp2.fr
Mark Taylor
Liverpool, UK
susie.crossman@liv.ac.uk
Jen White
University of Kentucky
Lexington, USA
jenawhite@uky.edu
Luís Teixeira
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência
Oeiras, Portugal
lteixeira@igc.gulbenkian.pt
Zhiyong Xi
East Lansing, USA
xizy@msu.edu
Arndt Telschow
Westfalian Wilhelsm-University Münster
Münster, Germany
a.telschow@wwu.de
Einat Zchori-Fein
Newe Ya'ar Research Center
Ramat Yishay, Israel
einat@agri.gov.il
125
Dongjing Zhang
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna, Austria
zhangdongjing06@163.com
Ya Zheng
Central China Normal University
Wuhan, China
zhengyahb@163.com
Roman Zug
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin, Germany
roman.zug@biologie.hu-berlin.de
126

Abstract book - Österreichische Gesellschaft für Entomofaunistik

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